Mitochondrial involvement in cancer is at several levels. Genetic alterations in OXPHOS genes can predispose to cancer, as in the case of succinate dehydrogenase subunit mutations, which cause paraganglioma syndromes.

Also, metabolic changes in energy metabolism are characteristic of cancer as tumors switch from an OXPHOS mode to glycolysis as source of ATP production. Further, the organelle is a key part of the signaling in apoptosis, a process that must be down regulated to allow cell proliferation in the disease.


Finally, recent work indicates that there is recruitment of mitochondrial proteins to the plasma membrane of cancer cells. This is shown in the figure above. The red spots distributed over the surface of the cell are ATP synthase molecules stained with our antibody against ATP synthase subunit alpha (catalog no. MS502) while the green is mitochondrial reticulum identified with matrix-located green fluorescent protein.