Tumor suppressor functions of BNIP3 and mitophagy.

There is a growing realization that tumor cells rely on healthy mitochondria to promote their growth under changing microenvironmental stresses and do so by dynamically modulating both their mitochondrial mass and state of mitochondrial fusion. Our recent work adds to this appreciation by showing that the mitophagy receptor BNIP3 functions as a tumor suppressor in mammary tumorigenesis and also as a prognostic indicator of progression to metastasis in certain sub-types of human breast cancer.