title: Mitochondria: An intriguing target for killing tumour-initiating cells.
abstract: Tumour-initiating cells (TICs) play a pivotal role in cancer initiation, metastasis and recurrence, as well as in resistance to therapy. Therefore, development of drugs targeting TICs has become a focus of contemporary research. Mitochondria have emerged as a promising target of anti-cancer therapies due to their specific role in cancer metabolism and modulation of apoptotic pathways. Mitochondria of TICs possess special characteristics, some of which can be utilised to design drugs specifically targeting these cells. In this paper, we will review recent research on TICs and their mitochondria, and introduce drugs that kill these cells by way of mitochondrial targeting.
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld, 4222, Australia. Electronic address: bing.yan@griffithuni.edu.au.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld, 4222, Australia.
authors.forename: Lanfeng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld, 4222, Australia; Institute of Biotechnology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague 4 142 20, Czech Republic. Electronic address: j.neuzil@griffith.edu.au.
authors.forename: Jiri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Neuzil
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017209:Apoptosis; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: Apoptosis; Cancer stem cells; Cell death; Mitocans; Mitochondria; Mitochondrial potential; Therapeutic resistance; Tumour-initiating cells