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Alteration of Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number in Different Diseases
Zhang Jingni1,2, Wang Hongjuan1,2, Chen Huan1, Hou Hongwei1*, Liu Yong2, Wang An2, Hu Qingyuan1*
1China National Tobacco Quality Supervision & Test Center, Zhengzhou 450001, China; 2Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
Abstract: The mitochondrion plays an important role in energy production and free radical metabolism of eukaryotic cells. Due to the high oxygen produced by oxidative phosphorylation of respiration and lack of mitochondrial DNA repair systems， mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is easy to be damaged， causing changes in mtDNA copy number. Thus the function of mitochondria is affected. Numerous studies have shown that a variety of diseases are associated with mtDNA copy number variations. This paper reviews that mtDNA copy number changes in cancers， neurodegenerative diseases， cardiovascular diseases， psychiatric disorders and other diseases， so that we can find the varying patterns and regulatory mechanism to see whether mtDNA copy number could be a biomarker for diseases.
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