GoKawiilDisrupting mitochondrial protein import slows tumor growth via immune system
Researchers knocked out genes involved in mitochondrial protein import—including Agk, Timm10b, Timm17b, and Timm50—in mouse melanoma cell lines and implanted the altered tumors into mice. Tumors lacking these import components grew more slowly in immune-competent mice than in immune-deficient nude mice, and depleting CD8+ T-cells restored tumor growth in mice with Timm50-deficient tumors. RNA sequencing further showed gene expression changes consistent with altered immune signaling in these tumors.