Biomedical Journal

Biomedical Journal

Volume 39, Issue 2, April 2016, Pages 98-106
Biomedical Journal

Review Article
Metabolic, autophagic, and mitophagic activities in cancer initiation and progression

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bj.2015.10.002Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Abstract

Cancer is a complex disease marked by uncontrolled cell growth and invasion. These processes are driven by the accumulation of genetic and epigenetic alterations that promote cancer initiation and progression. Contributing to genome changes are the regulation of oxidative stress and reactive species-induced damage to molecules and organelles. Redox regulation, metabolic plasticity, autophagy, and mitophagy play important and interactive roles in cancer hallmarks including sustained proliferation, activated invasion, and replicative immortality. However, the impact of these processes can differ depending on the signaling pathways altered in cancer, tumor type, tumor stage, and/or the differentiation state. Here, we highlight some of the representative studies on the impact of oxidative and nitrosative activities, mitochondrial bioenergetics, metabolism, and autophagy and mitophagy in the context of tumorigenesis. We discuss the implications of these processes for cellular activities in cancer for anti-cancer-based therapeutics.

Keywords

Autophagy
Cancer
Mitochondria
Mitophagy
Oxidative stress
Reactive species

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Peer review under responsibility of Chang Gung University.