Following the discovery of the mitochondria-associated membrane (MAM) as a hub for lipid metabolism in 1990 and its description as one of the first examples for membrane contact sites at the turn of the century, the past decade has seen the emergence of this structure as a potential regulator of cancer growth and metabolism. The mechanistic basis for this hypothesis is that the MAM accommodates flux of Ca(2+) from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to mitochondria. This flux then determines mitochondrial ATP production, known to be low in many tumors as part of the Warburg effect. However, low mitochondrial Ca(2+) flux also reduces the propensity of tumor cells to undergo apoptosis, another cancer hallmark. Numerous regulators of this flux have been recently identified as MAM proteins. Not surprisingly, many fall into the groups of tumor suppressors and oncogenes. Given the important role that the MAM could play in cancer, it is expected that proteins mediating its formation are particularly implicated in tumorigenesis. Examples for such proteins are mitofusin-2 and phosphofurin acidic cluster sorting protein 2 that likely act as tumor suppressors. This review discusses how these proteins that mediate or regulate ER-mitochondria tethering are (or are not) promoting or inhibiting tumorigenesis. The emerging picture of MAMs in cancer seems to indicate that in addition to the downregulation of mitochondrial Ca(2+) import, MAM defects are but one way how cancer cells control mitochondria metabolism and apoptosis.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 29 June 2017.
All research outputs
#7,785,965
of 25,394,764 outputs
Outputs from Frontiers in oncology
#2,731
of 22,440 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#113,958
of 327,217 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Frontiers in oncology
#22
of 80 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,394,764 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 69th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 22,440 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 3.0. This one has done well, scoring higher than 87% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 327,217 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 64% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 80 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 72% of its contemporaries.
