Published in:
01-08-2009 | Original Paper
Mitochondrial DNA content in paired normal and cancerous breast tissue samples from patients with breast cancer
Published in: Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology | Issue 8/2009
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Introduction
We develop a multiplex quantitative real-time PCR for synchronized analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and nuclear DNA (nDNA) to investigate relative mtDNA abundance in paired normal and cancerous breast tissues.
Materials and methods
The amounts of nDNA and mtDNA in 102 tissue samples were quantified for both glyceraldehype-3-phosphodehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene and mtDNA encoded ATPase (MTATP) 8 gene. The average threshold cycle (Ct) number values of the nDNA and mtDNA were used to calculate relative mtDNA content in breast tissues.
Results
The median delta Ct (ΔCt) and the median mtDNA content for normal and cancerous breast tissues were 6.73 and 2.54, as well as 106.50 and 5.80 (P = 0.000, respectively). The mtDNA content was decreased in 82% of cancerous breast tissues compared with the normal ones. The changes were associated with hormone receptor status.
Conclusion
Our finding suggests that decreased mtDNA content in breast cancer may have diagnostic and prognostic value for the disease.