Open AccessMitochondrial survivin reduces oxidative phosphorylation in cancer cells by inhibiting mitophagy
Author(s) -
Amelia R. Townley,
Sally P. Wheatley
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of cell science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.384
H-Index - 278
eISSN - 1477-9137
pISSN - 0021-9533
DOI - 10.1242/jcs.247379
Subject(s) - mitophagy , biology , oxidative phosphorylation , survivin , mitochondrion , microbiology and biotechnology , phosphorylation , cancer cell , mitochondrial dna , cancer research , cancer , apoptosis , biochemistry , autophagy , genetics , gene
Survivin is a cancer-associated protein that is pivotal for cellular life and death: it is an essential mitotic protein and an inhibitor of apoptosis. In cancer cells, a small pool of survivin localises to the mitochondria, the function of which remains to be elucidated. Here, we report that mitochondrial survivin inhibits the selective form of autophagy, called “mitophagy”, causing an accumulation of respiratory defective mitochondria. Mechanistically the data reveal that survivin prevents recruitment of the E3-ubiquitin ligase Parkin to mitochondria and their subsequent recognition by the autophagosome. The data also demonstrate that cells in which mitophagy has been blocked by survivin expression have an increased dependency on glycolysis. As these effects were found exclusively in cancer cells they suggest that the primary act of mitochondrial survivin is to steer cells towards the implementation of the Warburg transition by inhibiting mitochondrial turnover, which enables them to adapt and survive.