Mitochondrial fragmentation in liver cancer: Emerging player and promising therapeutic opportunities

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Enhanced mitochon-drial fragmentation (MF) is associated with poor prognosis in HCC patients. However, its molecular mechanism in HCC remains elusive. Although enhanced MF activates effector T cells and dendritic cells, it induces immu-noescape by decreasing the number and cytotoxicity of natural killer cells in the HCC immune microenviron-ment. Therefore, the influence of MF on the activity of different immune cells is a great challenge. Enhanced MF contributes to maintaining stemness by promoting the asymmetric division of liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs), suggesting that MF may become a potential target for HCC recurrence, metastasis, and chemotherapy resistance. Moreover, mechanistic studies suggest that MF may promote tumour progression through autophagy, oxidative stress, and metabolic reprogramming. Human-induced hepatocyte organoids are a recently developed system that can be genetically manipulated to mimic cancer initiation and identify potential preventive treatments. We can use it to screen MF-related candidate inhibitors of HCC progression and further explore the role of MF in hepatocarcinogenesis. We herein describe the mechanisms by which MF contributes to HCC development, discuss potential therapeutic approaches, and highlight the possibility that MF modulation has a synergistic effect with immunotherapy.

Automated summary

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, and enhanced mitochondrial fragmentation (MF) is associated with poor prognosis in HCC patients. Although MF activates certain immune cells, it decreases the number and cytotoxicity of natural killer cells in the HCC immune microenvironment, leading to immune escape. Moreover, MF contributes to maintaining stemness by promoting the asymmetric division of liver cancer stem cells. MF may promote tumor progression through autophagy, oxidative stress, and metabolic reprogramming.