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MINI REVIEW article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1453886
This article is part of the Research Topic Mechanism Explorations of Enhancing Immunotherapeutic Sensitivity via Mediating Immune Infiltration and Programmed Cell Death in Solid Tumor Microenvironment View all 5 articles

Mitochondrial Regulation in the Tumor Microenvironment: Targeting Mitochondria for Immunotherapy

Provisionally accepted
Minseo Ahn Minseo Ahn Akhtar Ali Akhtar Ali JAE HO SEO JAE HO SEO *
  • Department of Biochemistry, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, Iksan, Republic of Korea

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Mitochondrial regulation plays a crucial role in cancer immunity in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Infiltrating immune cells, including T cells, natural killer (NK) cells, and macrophages, undergo mitochondrial metabolic reprogramming to survive the harsh conditions of the TME and enhance their antitumor activity. However, immunosuppressive cells like myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), regulatory T cells (Tregs), mast cells, and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) rely on mitochondrial regulation to maintain their function as well. Additionally, mitochondrial regulation of cancer cells facilitates immune evasion and even hijacks mitochondria from immune cells to enhance their function. Recent studies suggest that targeting mitochondria can synergistically reduce cancer progression, especially when combined with traditional cancer therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors. Many mitochondrial-targeting drugs are currently in clinical trials and have the potential to enhance the efficacy of immunotherapy. This mini review highlights the critical role of mitochondrial regulation in cancer immunity and provides lists of mitochondrial targeting drugs that have potential to enhance the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy.

    Keywords: Mitochondria, TME, Immunotherapy, Metabolism, Immune Evasion

    Received: 24 Jun 2024; Accepted: 27 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ahn, Ali and SEO. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: JAE HO SEO, Department of Biochemistry, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, Iksan, Republic of Korea

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.