The mitochondrial calcium uniporter regulates breast cancer progression via HIF-1α.

ABSTRACT: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) represents the most aggressive breast tumor subtype. However, the molecular determinants responsible for the metastatic TNBC phenotype are only partially understood. We here show that expression of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU), the selective channel responsible for mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake, correlates with tumor size and lymph node infiltration, suggesting that mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake might be instrumental for tumor growth and metastatic formation. Accordingly, MCU downregulation hampered cell motility and invasiveness and reduced tumor growth, lymph node infiltration, and lung metastasis in TNBC xenografts. In MCU-silenced cells, production of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mROS) is blunted and expression of the hypoxia-indu

SUBMITTER: Tosatto A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4864890 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature