Suppression of Tumor Growth In vivo by the Mitocan α-tocopheryl Succinate Requires Respiratory Complex II

Abstract

Purpose: Vitamin E analogues are potent novel anticancer drugs. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the cellular target by which these agents, represented by α-tocopoheryl succinate (α-TOS), suppress tumors in vivo, with the focus on the mitochondrial complex II (CII).

Experimental Design: Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts with functional, dysfunctional, and reconstituted CII were transformed using H-Ras. The cells were then used to form xenografts in immunocompromized mice, and response of the cells and the tumors to α-TOS was studied.

Results: The CII-functional and CII-reconstituted cells, unlike their CII-dysfunctional counterparts, responded to α-TOS by reactive oxygen species generation and apoptosis execution. Tumors derived from these cell lines reciprocated their responses to α-TOS. Thus, growth of CII-functional and CII-reconstituted tumors was strongly suppressed by the agent, and this was accompanied by high level of apoptosis induction in the tumor cells. On the other hand, α-TOS did not inhibit the CII-dysfuntional tumors.

Conclusions: We document in this report a novel paradigm, according to which the mitochondrial CII, which rarely mutates in human neoplasias, is a plausible target for anticancer drugs from the group of vitamin E analogues, providing support for their testing in clinical trials.