PGC-1α mediates mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative phosphorylation in cancer cells to promote metastasis

PGC-1α mediates mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative phosphorylation in cancer cells to promote metastasis

The canonical explanation for how tumour cells derive their energy is mainly through glycolysis, an anaerobic pathway. However, the work in this paper shows that circulating cancer cells (CCCs) in breast cancer favour mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, which can generate more energy and is aerobic. Moreover, the authors find that the protein PGC-1α, which modulates mitochondrial biogenesis, heavily influences CCCs invasiveness and ability to form distant metastases.