Referenced in: none

Automatically associated channels: ClC4

Title: Mcl-1 promotes lung cancer cell migration by directly interacting with VDAC to increase mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake and reactive oxygen species generation.

Authors: H Huang, K Shah, N A Bradbury, C Li, C White

Journal, date & volume: Cell Death Dis, 2014 , 5, e1482

PubMed link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25341036

Abstract
Mcl-1 is an antiapoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family frequently upregulated in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). We now report the physiological significance of an interaction between Mcl-1 and the mitochondrial outer membrane-localized voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) in NSCLC cell lines. Mcl-1 bound with high affinity to VDAC1 and 3 isoforms but only very weakly to VDAC2 and binding was disrupted by peptides based on the VDAC1 sequence. In A549 cells, reducing Mcl-1 expression levels or application of VDAC-based peptides limited Ca(2+) uptake into the mitochondrial matrix, the consequence of which was to inhibit reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. In A549, H1299 and H460 cells, both Mcl-1 knockdown and VDAC-based peptides attenuated cell migration without affecting cell proliferation. Migration was rescued in Mcl-1 knockdown cells by experimentally restoring ROS levels, consistent with a model in which ROS production drives increased migration. These data suggest that an interaction between Mcl-1 and VDAC promotes lung cancer cell migration by a mechanism that involves Ca(2+)-dependent ROS production.