Research Paper Volume 8, Issue 8 pp 1593—1606
Bedaquiline, an FDA-approved antibiotic, inhibits mitochondrial function and potently blocks the proliferative expansion of stem-like cancer cells (CSCs)
Figure 11. Summary: Overall strategy for repurposing FDA-approved antibiotics as anti-cancer agents for targeting mitochondria in CSCs. Here, show that bedaquiline, an FDA-approved antibiotic, effectively prevents the propagation of CSCs, by targeting oxidative mitochondrial metabolism. Thus, the repurposing of antibiotics, to target mitochondria in CSCs is a novel strategy for accelerating clinical trials, as these FDA-approved drugs have already passed Phase I clinical trials, and could be used in Phase II clinical trials, such as Window-of-Opportunity studies. So far, we have identified six different classes of FDA-approved antibiotics that fit this profile.