Intercellular nanotubes mediate mitochondrial trafficking between cancer and immune cells

Cancer progresses by evading the immune system. Elucidating diverse immune evasion strategies is a critical step in the search for next-generation immunotherapies for cancer. Here we report that cancer cells can hijack the mitochondria from immune cells via physical nanotubes. Mitochondria are essential for metabolism and activation of immune cells. By using field-emission scanning electron microscopy, fluorophore-tagged mitochondrial transfer tracing and metabolic quantification, we demonstrate that the nanotube-mediated transfer of mitochondria from immune cells to cancer cells metabolically empowers the cancer cells and depletes the immune cells. Inhibiting the nanotube assembly machinery significantly reduced mitochondrial transfer and prevented the depletion of immune cells. Combining a farnesyltransferase and geranylgeranyltransferase 1 inhibitor, namely, L-778123, which partially inhibited nanotube formation and mitochondrial transfer, with a programmed cell death protein 1 immune checkpoint inhibitor improved the antitumour outcomes in an aggressive immunocompetent breast cancer model. Nanotube-mediated mitochondrial hijacking can emerge as a novel target for developing next-generation immunotherapy agents for cancer. Cancer cells adopt a series of strategies to evade the immune response mounted by the organism against them. Here we find that tumour cells can hijack mitochondria from immune cells by forming physical nanotubes, and suggest that inhibiting this process might represent a potential immunotherapy approach.

Automated summary

Cancer cells hijack mitochondria from immune cells via physical nanotubes, empowering themselves while depleting the immune cells. Inhibiting the nanotube assembly machinery can prevent mitochondrial transfer and potentially serve as an immunotherapy approach.