Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 30, 2026

Sensitive Measurement of Mitophagy by Flow Cytometry Using the pH-dependent Fluorescent Reporter mt-Keima
Published on: August 12, 2018
Molecular mechanism and potential role of mitophagy in breast cancer
Xin Yang1,2, Youqin Zeng1,2, Ling Zhang1,2
1College of Medical Technology, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China.
Abstract:
Breast cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed malignancy among women worldwide and a leading cause of cancer related mortality in this population. Mitochondrial dysfunction is increasingly recognized as a hallmark of breast cancer, contributing to tumor initiation, progression, and therapeutic resistance. Mitophagy, a selective form of autophagy that eliminates damaged or dysfunctional mitochondria, is essential for maintaining cellular and mitochondrial homeostasis. Accumulating evidence indicates that mitophagy plays a context dependent role in breast cancer. Impaired mitophagy permits the accumulation of damaged mitochondria and promotes tumor growth, migration, and invasion, whereas appropriately activated mitophagy removes damaged mitochondria and suppresses tumor progression. This review synthesizes the molecular mechanisms of mitophagy, its crosstalk with ferroptosis, and its context dependent roles in breast cancer development, with the aim of offering therapeutic insights that may inform breast cancer treatment.
Related Concept Videos
Translocation of Proteins into the Mitochondria
Sorting of outer membrane proteins:
Mitochondrial outer membrane proteins are of two types: the transmembrane, beta-barrel porins, and the membrane-anchored, alpha-helical proteins. Beta-barrel porin precursors are translocated by the TOM complex and inserted into the outer mitochondrial membrane by the SAM complex. In contrast,...
Electron Transport Chain: Complex I and II
ROS generation is regulated and maintained at moderate levels necessary...
Mitogens and the Cell Cycle
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
Autophagy
An autophagic pathway consists of a series of signaling events activated in response to diverse stress and physiological conditions such as food deprivation,...
Delivery Pathways to the Lysosome
Endocytosis
In endocytosis, the cell membrane takes up macromolecules and particles from the surrounding medium. Clathrin-mediated...

