RT Journal Article
T1 A Critical Reassessment of the Role of Mitochondria in Tumorigenesis
A1 Salas Ellacuriaga, Antonio
A1 Yao, Yong-Gang
A1 Macaulay, Vincent
A1 Vega Gliemmo, Ana Paula
A1 Carracedo Álvarez, Ángel
A1 Bandelt, Hans-Jürgen
AB BackgroundMitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is being analyzed by an increasing number of laboratories in order to investigate its potential role as an active marker of tumorigenesis in various types of cancer. Here we question the conclusions drawn in most of these investigations, especially those published in high-rank cancer research journals, under the evidence that a significant number of these medical mtDNA studies are based on obviously flawed sequencing results.Methods and FindingsIn our analyses, we take a phylogenetic approach and employ thorough database searches, which together have proven successful for detecting erroneous sequences in the fields of human population genetics and forensics. Apart from conceptual problems concerning the interpretation of mtDNA variation in tumorigenesis, in most cases, blocks of seemingly somatic mutations clearly point to contamination or sample mix-up and, therefore, have nothing to do with tumorigenesis.ConclusionThe role of mitochondria in tumorigenesis remains unclarified. Our findings of laboratory errors in many contributions would represent only the tip of the iceberg since most published studies do not provide the raw sequence data for inspection, thus hindering a posteriori evaluation of the results. There is no precedent for such a concatenation of errors and misconceptions affecting a whole subfield of medical research.
PB Plos
SN 1549-1277
YR 2005
FD 2005
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/22772
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/22772
LA eng
NO Salas A, Yao Y-G, Macaulay V, Vega A, Carracedo Á, Bandelt H-J (2005) A Critical Reassessment of the Role of Mitochondria in Tumorigenesis. PLoS Med 2(11): e296. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0020296
NO This work was supported by grants from the Ministerio de Sanidad yConsumo (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria; Instituto de Salud CarlosIII, PI030893; SCO/3425/2002) and Genoma España (CeGen; CentroNacional de Genotipado)
DS Minerva
RD 24 abr 2026