Nucleic Acids Research, 1983, Vol. 11, No. 6 1635-1644
© 1983
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY |
Tumor-associated mutations of rat mitochondrial transfer RNA genes
Cancer Institute, Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research Kami-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 170, Japan
*To whom requests for reprints should be addressed
Received February 2, 1983. Accepted February 21, 1983.
Mitochondrial DNA is a sensitive target of chemical carcinogens (Backer and Weinstein (1980) Science 209, 297-299), suggesting that mutations of the mitochondrial genome occur in tumor cells. We examined this point by comparing mitochondrial DNA sequences 1n four rat tumors with those of normal rat liver. Some novel mutations found in the tRNA genes of tumor mitochondria were as follows: nucleotides deletions in the aminoacy1 acceptor stem of the tRNATyp gene or in the anticodon stem of the tRNATyr gene and insertions in the "T
C" loop of the tRNAcys gene. These structures are extraordinary compared with those of the tRNA genes of other mammals, indicating that these mutations are each associated with a corresponding tumor.