Somatic mitochondrial DNA alterations have been found in all types of cancer. To better understand the role of mitochondria and their involvement in the pathogenic mechanisms of cancer development, the effects of cancer mitochondria were investigated in a defined nuclear background using a transmitochondrial cybrid system. Our results demonstrated that cancer mitochondria confer a significant reduction in cell growth when cells are metabolically stressed in a galactose medium. Activities of the respiratory chain complexes, cellular oxygen consumption, and ATP synthesis rates were found to be much lower in breast cancer cells, than those in normal breast epithelial cells of MCF-10A (10A). These results suggest that there is reduced mitochondrial function in the studied breast cancer cell lines. Similarly reduced mitochondrial function was observed in cybrids containing cancer mitochondria. Novel tRNA mutations were also identified in two breast cancer cell lines, possibly responsible for the observed mitochondrial dysfunction. We conclude that altered mitochondria in cancer cells may play a crucial role in tumor development.
