A PGC1α-mediated transcriptional axis suppresses melanoma metastasis.

Tumour progression is associated with reprogramming of the normal metabolic processes. But do metabolic regulatory circuits affect cancer metastasis? Pere Puigserver and colleagues address this question in melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. They find that PGC1a transcriptional coactivator known to promote biogenesis of mitochondria and to protect against oxidative stresssuppresses melanoma metastasis, through a transcriptional pathway that is parallel to, but distinct from, that leading to its bioenergetic functions. This pathway may offer an additional target for drugs that suppress metastasis through cytotoxic effects.