Genetic material called mitochondria convert energy from food into a form that can be used by cells. In the experiment, a tumor cell without mitochondrial DNA formed tumors after pulling in DNA from normal cells.
“Our findings overturn the dogma that genes of higher organisms are usually constrained within cells except during reproduction," Mike Berridge, a professor from the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research in New Zealand, said in a statement. "It may be that mitochondrial gene transfer between different cells is actually quite a common biological occurrence.”
Berridge along with Jiri Neuzil from Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, led a team that examined breast cancer tumors in mice. Mitochondrial DNA was removed from cells, which then pulled replacement DNA from surrounding, normal mouse tissue.
The effect has been observed in the lab before, the researchers said, but not in an animal tumor.
The researchers initially thought the cells had adapted to grow without the mitochondrial DNA that had been removed. But after testing, the scientists discovered the cells did have mitochondrial DNA pulled from non-tumor cells.
The researches say the findings may help in understanding more about 200 diseases besides cancer that involve defective mitochondrial DNA. "It could also usher in a new field where synthetic mitochondrial DNA is custom-designed to replace defective genes," the researchers wrote.
If mitochondrial DNA sounds familiar, that may be because it's used in studying human ancestry. The genetic material is passed down only by one's mother, and has been instrumental in tracing a common human ancestor back to Africa 60-70,000 years ago.
The results were published in the journal Cell Metabolism.
From Discovery News
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