2. Academic Validation
  3. Vesicle-mediated mitochondrial clearance presents an actionable metabolic vulnerability in triple-negative breast cancer

Vesicle-mediated mitochondrial clearance presents an actionable metabolic vulnerability in triple-negative breast cancer

  • Cell Rep Med. 2025 Dec 16;6(12):102478. doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2025.102478.
Jody Vykoukal 1,  Yihui Chen 1,  Mingxin Zuo 1,  Riccardo Ballarò 1,  Monica J Hong 1,  Hansini Krishna 1,  Daniela B Rodriquez-Perera 1,  Hiroyuki Katayama 1,  Ehsan Irajizad 1,  Ranran Wu 1,  Ricardo A León-Letelier 1,  Jennifer B Dennison 1,  Angelica M Gutierrez 2,  Adriana Paulucci-Holthauzen 3,  Timothy C Thompson 4,  Leona Rusling 1,  Yining Cai 1,  Fu Chung Hsiao 1,  Soyoung Park 1,  Banu Arun 2,  Samir Hanash 1,  Johannes F Fahrmann 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Clinical Cancer Prevention, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
  • 2 Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
  • 3 Department of Genetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
  • 4 Genitourinary Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
  • 5 Department of Clinical Cancer Prevention, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 41406946 DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2025.102478
Abstract

Selective Autophagy of mitochondria is known to promote Cancer cell survival and progression, including in triple-negative breast Cancer (TNBC). Here, we apply an integrated multi-omics approach together with functional experimental analyses to investigate metabolic adaptations that support mitochondrial quality control in TNBC. We detail a mitochondrial quality control mechanism, complementary to Mitophagy, that is enabled by a program of heightened extracellular sphingomyelin salvaging in TNBC coupled with extracellular vesicle-mediated intracellular clearance of mitochondrial damage. Targeting of this onco-metabolic pathway via repurposing of eliglustat, a selective small molecule inhibitor of glucosylceramide synthase, results in ceramide-mediated compensatory Mitophagy and Cancer cell death in vitro and attenuates tumor growth and prolongs overall survival at clinically achievable doses in orthotopic syngeneic mouse models of TNBC as well as in human cell line-derived xenograft models. Our study defines an unexplored mechanism of aberrant sphingolipid metabolism that underlies an actionable metabolic vulnerability for anti-cancer treatment.

Keywords

autophagy; eliglustat; extracellular vesicles; glucosylceramide synthase; mitochondria; sphingolipids; triple-negative breast cancer.

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