Mutations help increase chances of cancer

Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) National Institute for Biotechnology set out to look for mutations in the genome of mitochondria, a part of every cell responsible for energy production that is passed exclusively from mothers to their children.

The mitochondria are essential to every cell's survival and our ability to perform the functions of living.

"Our ancestors responded to environmental changes, such as climate shift, with mutations that increased their chances of survival. But today, these same mutations predispose us toward complex diseases such as cancer," according to Dan Mishmar, molecular biologist at BGU.

"Although mitochondria's role in the emergence of new species has been investigated recently, the idea that they are responsible for our susceptibility to illness startles many."

To test this hypothesis, researchers analysed the genome mitochondria mutations from 98 unrelated individuals. Combinations of mutations tended to occur in tumours in precisely the same DNA building blocks that changed during evolution.

The team also found that the mitochondrial genome of humans who migrated out of Africa to Europe 100,000 years ago carried seven mutations found in almost all of today's Europeans.

"The concept that the same principles that drive evolution toward the emergence of new species govern the emergence of diseases is new," Mishmar explains, according to a BGU release.

"A clinician looks at the genome of a tumour or other disease, and compares it to the normal population, looking for new mutations that do not occur there. I assume the mutations are already part of the population and have had a survival function. When these same mutations reoccur in the correct environment, they can cause disease," Mishmar adds.

"We show, strikingly, that evolution repeated itself in cancer. If we better understand how evolution moved, we can understand the genetic basis of many complex disorders."

These findings were reported in Genome Research.

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( 339 Words)

2009-07-03-15:02:47 (IANS)

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