Prevalence of the 4977-bp and 4408-bp mitochondrial DNA deletions in mesenteric arteries from patients with colorectal cancer

Abstract

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletions are found in many diseased tissues and lead to impairment of mitochondrial functions. In this study, we found wide presence of the common 4977-bp and a novel 4408-bp deletion in the mtDNA of mesenteric arteries from patients with colorectal cancer. These two deletions were also detected in samples from healthy individuals. The content of mtDNA with the 4977-bp deletion was significantly lower in healthy controls than cancer-associated samples, and there was no significant difference for the 4408-bp deletion between the two groups. These results suggest that mtDNA in blood vessels around cancer cells may be strongly affected by oxidative stress and tend to accumulate more large-scale variations.

• Colorectal cancer
• mesenteric artery
• mitochondrial DNA deletion

Declaration of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest. This work was supported by grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (31300949 to B. Z. and 31300965 to G. L. C.)