Mitochondrial Shapeshifting Impacts AML Stemness and Differentiation

In this issue of Cell Stem Cell , Pei et al. (2018) demonstrate that leukemic stem cells (LSCs) have enhanced mitochondrial fission, which is positively regulated by FIS1. FIS1 is necessary to maintain LSC function; thus, targeting its expression and mitochondrial fission is a novel approach to decrease stemness and increase differentiation in Acute Myeloid Leukemia.