Mitochondrial DNA and Cancer Epidemiology
- Overview
- Funding Opportunities
- Funded Projects
- Research Resources
- Public Resources
- Selected Publications
- Workshops
- Contact
Overview
Figure: Mitomap representing gene location and mtDNA mutations detected in different cancers. The large multi-colored circle shown here represents the mitochondrial genome. The colored boxes along the circle represent specific genes. The blue boxes with white letters represent the haplogroups. Various cancers associated with the individual genes are represented by the following abbreviations: Bl = Bladder Cancer, Br = Breast Cancer, Co = Colorectal Cancer, H & N = Head and Neck Cancer, Ov = Ovarian Cancer, Pa = Pancreatic Cancer, Pr = Prostate Cancer, and Th = Thyroid Cancer.
Reprinted from Clinica Chimica Acta, Volume 383, Issue 1-2, Mukesh Verma and Deepak Kumar, Application of mitochondria genome information in cancer epidemiology
, pages 41-50, Copyright 2007, with permission from Elsevier.
Mitochondria play an important role in cellular energy metabolism, free radical generation, and apoptosis. At some point during neoplastic transformation, an increase in reactive oxygen species damages the mitochondrial genome. This increase accelerates the somatic mutation rate of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). These mutations may represent a means for tracking tumor progression.
Mitochondria contain their own genome (16.5 kb) along with transcription, translation, and protein assembly machinery. They are able to maintain genomic independence from the nucleus. Somatic mutations have been reported in different tumor types, and some reports indicate inherited mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms in cancer. Mutations have been detected in mitochondria in various tumor types, including breast, colon, esophageal, endometrial, head and neck, liver, kidney, lung, oral, prostate, and thyroid cancer, and melanoma and leukemia.
Specific scientific questions of interest to EGRP are:
- Will inclusion of mitochondrial markers help to identify new risk factors (modifiable factors, host factors) in different races and ethnic groups?
- Will mitochondrial markers in cohort and case-control studies improve their sensitivity and specificity and help identify high-risk populations?
- Are genetic and mitochondrial DNA alterations (somatic mutations, deletions) correlated during cancer development?
- Can we utilize mitochondrial haplogroup information to identify high-risk populations?
- How can we utilize mitochondrial proteomic information to understand gene-gene and gene-environment studies and cancer etiology?
Funding Opportunities
NCI-sponsored Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA) related to mitochondrial DNA in cancer epidemiology include:
- Mitochondria in Cancer Epidemiology, Detection, Diagnosis, and Prognosis - expires January 8, 2014, unless reissued
EGRP joins with other NCI Divisions, Offices, and Centers and other Institutes and Centers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund grant applications submitted in response to FOAs.
View the full list of EGRP FOAs.
EGRP also encourages investigator-initiated grant applications studying changes in mitochondrial DNA in relation to cancer epidemiology.
Funded Projects
Research Resources
- Human Mitochondrial Genome Database (mtDB)
Download mitochondrial DNA sequences, view polymorphic sites, and search for specific variants. - Human Mitochondrial Protein Database (HMPDb)
National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) database with comprehensive data on mitochondrial and human nuclear encoded proteins involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and function. - MITOMAP
Published and unpublished data on human mitochondrial variation. - MitoMiner
Integrated data warehouse of proteomic data for mitochondria. - MITOWIKI
Mitochondrial data sharing research tool. - PhyloTree
A phylogenetic tree of global human mitochondrial DNA variation, based on both coding- and control-region mutations, and including haplogroup nomenclature. - Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation Mitochondrial Database (SMFG)
Collection of mitochondrial DNA data and corresponding genealogies from more than 75,000 people throughout the world.
Public Resources
Figure: Mitochondrial DNA is the small circular chromosome found inside mitochondria. The mitochondria are organelles found in cells that are the sites of energy production. The mitochondria, and thus mitochondrial DNA, are passed from mother to offspring.
National Institutes of Health. National Human Genome Research Institute. "Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms." Retrieved April 25, 2012, from http://www.genome.gov/glossary/
- Genetics Home Reference: Mitochondrial DNA
National Library of Medicine Web page with plain language description of mitochondrial DNA and links to an illustration and additional sources of information. - Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms: Mitochondrial DNA
National Human Genome Research Institute Web page provides a definition of mitochondria DNA, an illustration, and a 3D animation.
Selected Publications
Tools to characterize and measure mtDNA characteristics are now available that can be used on the types of biospecimens available in epidemiologic studies, and are sufficiently high throughput for the large numbers of samples analyzed in population-based studies. The following selected publications discuss measurement of mtDNA alterations in cancer epidemiology research:
- Ebner S, et al. Mitochondrial haplogroups, control region polymorphisms and malignant melanoma: a study in middle European Caucasians. PLoS ONE. 2011;6(12):e27192. Epub 2001 Dec 9.
- Lam ET, et al. Mitochondria DNA sequence variation and risk of pancreatic cancer. Cancer Res. 2012 Feb1;72(3):686-95. Epub 2011 Dec 15.
- Xing J, et al. Mitochondrial DNA content: its genetic heritability and association with renal cell carcinoma. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2008 Aug 6;100:1104-12. Epub 2008 Jul 29.
- Zheng S, et al. Association of mitochondrial DNA variations with lung cancer risk in a Han population from southwestern China. PLoS ONE. 2012;7(2):e31322. Epub 2012 Feb 21.
Workshops
EGRP co-sponsors workshops and meetings to convene experts in the fields of cancer epidemiology and environmental research to review the state-of-the-science, identify research gaps, and establish scientific agendas/priorities for the future, such as:
- Mitochondrial DNA and Cancer Epidemiology (September 2006)
Contact
For general questions about mitochondrial DNA in cancer epidemiology research, contact EGRP's Mukesh Verma, Ph.D., Chief, Methods and Technologies Branch.
