Ca2+ transfer to mitochondria: a spark of life in unexpected conditions

Eduardo Silva-Pavez; Ulises Ahumada-Castro; Alenka Lovy; Julio Cesar Cárdenas

doi:10.1080/23723556.2020.1839341

Ca²⁺ transfer to mitochondria: a spark of life in unexpected conditions

Mol Cell Oncol. 2020 Dec 15;8(1):1839341. doi: 10.1080/23723556.2020.1839341. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Eduardo Silva-Pavez^{1

2}, Ulises Ahumada-Castro^{1

2}, Alenka Lovy^{1

2

3}, Julio Cesar Cárdenas^{1

2

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Integrative Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile.
² Department of Neuroscience, Geroscience Center for Brain Health and Metabolism, Santiago, Chile.
³ Department of Neuroscience, Center for Neuroscience Research, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, USA.
⁴ Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, USA.
⁵ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.

Abstract

The inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate receptor (InsP3R)-mediated calcium (Ca²⁺) transfer to mitochondria is important to maintain mitochondrial respiration and bioenergetics in normal and cancer cells, even though cancer cells have defective oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Here, we discuss how tumor mitochondria could become a feasible therapeutic target to treat tumors that depend on reductive carboxylation.

Keywords: Calcium; OXPHOS; autophagy; cancer; cell survival.

Grants and funding

P30 NS047243/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/United States