Mitochondria dysfunction in circulating tumor cells

Chiara Agnoletto; Stefano Volinia

doi:10.3389/fonc.2022.947479

Mitochondria dysfunction in circulating tumor cells

Front Oncol. 2022 Aug 4:12:947479. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.947479. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Chiara Agnoletto¹, Stefano Volinia^{2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Rete Oncologica Veneta (ROV), Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, Padua, Italy.
² Laboratorio per le Tecnologie delle Terapie Avanzate (LTTA), Department of Translational Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
³ Biological and Chemical Research Centre (CNBCh UW), University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
⁴ Center of New Technologies, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.

Abstract

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) represent a subset of heterogeneous cells, which, once released from a tumor site, have the potential to give rise to metastasis in secondary sites. Recent research focused on the attempt to detect and characterize these rare cells in the circulation, and advancements in defining their molecular profile have been reported in diverse tumor species, with potential implications for clinical applications. Of note, metabolic alterations, involving mitochondria, have been implicated in the metastatic process, as key determinants in the transition of tumor cells to a mesenchymal or stemness-like phenotype, in drug resistance, and in induction of apoptosis. This review aimed to briefly analyse the most recent knowledge relative to mitochondria dysfunction in CTCs, and to envision implications of altered mitochondria in CTCs for a potential utility in clinics.

Keywords: CTC; ROS; drug resistance; invasiveness; mitochondria.

Publication types

Review