Vitamin C and Doxycycline: A synthetic lethal combination therapy targeting metabolic flexibility in cancer stem cells (CSCs)

• Published in: Oncotarget Vol. 8; no. 40; pp. 67269 - 67286
• Main Authors: De Francesco, Ernestina Marianna, Bonuccelli, Gloria, Maggiolini, Marcello, Sotgia, Federica, Lisanti, Michael P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Impact Journals LLC 15.09.2017
• Subjects: Research Paper; cancer stem-like cells (CSCs); doxycycline; vitamin C; mitochondrial biogenesis; mitochondrial DNA (mt-DNA)

Here, we developed a new synthetic lethal strategy for further optimizing the eradication of cancer stem cells (CSCs). Briefly, we show that chronic treatment with the FDA-approved antibiotic Doxycycline effectively reduces cellular respiration, by targeting mitochondrial protein translation. The ex...