Targeting mitochondria as cancer therapy: a literature review

Abstract

The creation of completely new agents that target the electron transport chain, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, apoptotic pathways, reactive oxygen species (ROS) in recent decades demonstrates the acknowledgement of mitochondria's involvement in the cell life cycle. Molecules found on or inside mitochondria are regarded as major pharmacological targets, and many attempts are being made to exploit these targets in order to create tailored therapeutics for a variety of cancers. However, while targeting different aspects of mitochondrial functions appears to be a straightforward notion in principle, it has a number of subtle differences in practice. The goal of this essay is to bring these distinctions to light in the context of a discussion of the present state of different mitochondria-targeted cancer therapies.