Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42678822›Full record

ArticleFEBS open bio2026

Ionomycin suppresses cancer cell growth by disrupting mitochondrial transcription.

Lishen Wang, Mingqiang Deng, Dongmei He, Diqin Lai, Dongjun Liu, Dengyong Zhu, Zhenhua Zhang, Peng Tang, Chuanman Zhou, Menghui Yin and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in FEBS open bio, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Lishen WangBiomedical Sciences College & Shandong Medicinal Biotechnology Centre, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, NHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology Drugs, Shandong Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and Synthetic Biology, Jinan, China.
Mingqiang DengCenter for Cell Lineage Atlas, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
Dongmei HeCenter for Cell Lineage Atlas, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
Diqin LaiCenter for Cell Lineage Atlas, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
Dongjun LiuCenter for Cell Lineage Atlas, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
Dengyong ZhuCenter for Cell Lineage Atlas, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
Zhenhua ZhangCenter for Cell Lineage Atlas, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
Peng TangCenter for Cell Lineage Atlas, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
Chuanman ZhouCenter for Cell Lineage Atlas, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
Menghui YinCenter for Cell Lineage Atlas, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
Xichen BaoCenter for Cell Lineage Atlas, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0389-4233

Funding

Chinese Polar Environment Comprehensive Investigation and Assessment Programmes 2021YFA1100401Chinese Polar Environment Comprehensive Investigation and Assessment Programmes 2024YFA1108200National Natural Science Foundation of China 32170745National Natural Science Foundation of China 32570651
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The Warburg effect has long suggested that oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) is dispensable for tumor growth. However, recent studies have shown that the mitochondrial RNA polymerase inhibitors IMT1 and IMT1b, which impair OXPHOS, are potent anticancer agents. Here, we demonstrate that ionomycin, a selective ionophore known to modulate mitochondrial homeostasis, similarly inhibits mitochondrial gene expression across cancer cell lines. Specifically, gene expression and nascent RNA profiling revealed a global downregulation of mitochondrial gene transcription in Jurkat T, THP-1, HeLa, and NCI-H441 cells. Thus, we conclude that ionomycin suppressed mitochondrial gene transcription, impaired OXPHOS, and thereby inhibited cancer cell proliferation and growth, providing a novel insight into the function of ionomycin.

Indexed as

cell proliferationionomycinmitochondrial gene transcriptionOXPHOS

Identifiers

PMID42678822
PMCPMC13533303

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.