Mitochondrial Function and Dynamics during Malignant Transformation

Dear Colleagues,

One of the hallmarks of cancer is its ability to reprogram the metabolism to support the proliferation and metastatic activity of malignant cells. In cancer cells, mitochondria are integrated with specialized phosphotransfer circuits that distribute energy from the mitochondria to the intracellular compartments of ATP consumption sites. Phosphotransfer circuits for the delivery of ATP are composed of creatine kinase, adenylate kinase, nucleoside diphosphate kinases, and glycolytic/glucogenolytic enzymes, which act alongside associated mitochondrial substrate shuttles such as glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase/glycerol kinase. The mitochondria have a key role in the AMP signaling via the AK→ AMP→ AMPK pathway; they serve to control the cell cycle and proliferation of cancer cells. A high level of intracellular ATP will support malignant transformation and drive the formation of an aggressive cancer cell phenotype. Increased ATP production via the mitochondria increases the cell proliferation, stemness, anchorage independence, migration, invasion, metastasis, antioxidant capacity, and drug resistance of cancer cells. In cancer cells, the mitochondria move with cells to areas of high energetic need in order to support the migration of cancer cells. For this Special Issue, we invite the submission of manuscripts (both reviews and articles) that detail how OXPHOS interacts with glycolysis; we hope to provide new insights into the metabolic plasticity of cancer cells.

Dr. Aleksandr Klepinin
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• AMPK
• phosphotransfer network
• mitochondria
• cancer metabolism
• glycolysis
• metabolic plasticity
• cancer cell migration
• molecular oncology
• cancer treatment strategy