Mitochondrial voltage-dependent anion channels (VDACs) as novel pharmacological targets for anti-cancer agents

作者：Simamura Eriko^*; Shimada Hiroki; Hatta Toshihisa; Hirai Kei Ichi

来源：Journal of Bioenergetics and Biomembranes, 2008, 40(3): 213-217.

DOI：10.1007/s10863-008-9158-6

• mitochondria
• voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC)
• pharmacological target
• anti-cancer agent
• apoptosis
• reactive oxygen species (ROS)
• adenine nucleotide translocator
• hexokinase

Recently, it was demonstrated that some anti-cancer agents used mitochondrial voltage-dependent anion channels (VDAC1-3 isoforms) as their pharmacological target. VDACs are expressed more highly in cancer cells than normal cells; thus the VDAC-dependent cytotoxic agents can have cancer-selectivity. Furanonaphthoquinones (FNQs) induced caspase-dependent apoptosis via the production of NADH-dependent reactive oxygen species (ROS) by VDAC1. The ROS production and the anti-cancer activity of FNQs were increased by VDAC1 overexpression. Meanwhile, erastin induced RAS-RAF-MEK-dependent non-apoptotic cell death via VDAC2. On the other hand, VDACs were needed for transporting ATP to hexokinase (HK), which was highly expressed in cancer cells. We hypothesized that the high glycolysis might induce up-regulation of VDAC. In this review, we propose that VDACs are novel candidates for effective pharmacological targets of anti-cancer drugs.

• 出版日期2008-6