This manuscript provides compelling evidence that macrophages transfer mitochondria to cancer cells and that transferred mitochondria stimulate proliferation in recipient cells. The usage an array of clever cell biology-based tools provides compelling evidence for these claims despite the difficulties associated with studying a relatively low probability event. Solid evidence supports the proposed model that transferred mitochondria induce proliferation by stimulating ERK signaling in a ROS dependent manner, although at present some aspects of the proposed model are incomplete. The work has broad significance for both mitochondrial biology and cancer biology as the authors show clear evidence of mitochondrial transfer in mouse models of human tumors.
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