PI3K therapy reprograms mitochondrial trafficking to fuel tumor cell invasion

MC Caino, JC Ghosh, YC Chae… - Proceedings of the …, 2015 - National Acad Sciences
MC Caino, JC Ghosh, YC Chae, V Vaira, DB Rivadeneira, A Faversani, P Rampini…
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2015National Acad Sciences
Molecular therapies are hallmarks of “personalized” medicine, but how tumors adapt to
these agents is not well-understood. Here we show that small-molecule inhibitors of
phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) currently in the clinic induce global transcriptional
reprogramming in tumors, with activation of growth factor receptors,(re) phosphorylation of
Akt and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and increased tumor cell motility and
invasion. This response involves redistribution of energetically active mitochondria to the …
Molecular therapies are hallmarks of “personalized” medicine, but how tumors adapt to these agents is not well-understood. Here we show that small-molecule inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) currently in the clinic induce global transcriptional reprogramming in tumors, with activation of growth factor receptors, (re)phosphorylation of Akt and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and increased tumor cell motility and invasion. This response involves redistribution of energetically active mitochondria to the cortical cytoskeleton, where they support membrane dynamics, turnover of focal adhesion complexes, and random cell motility. Blocking oxidative phosphorylation prevents adaptive mitochondrial trafficking, impairs membrane dynamics, and suppresses tumor cell invasion. Therefore, “spatiotemporal” mitochondrial respiration adaptively induced by PI3K therapy fuels tumor cell invasion, and may provide an important antimetastatic target.
National Acad Sciences