Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Briefing
  • Published:

Unravelling the origins and forces that shape mtDNA mutations in human cells

As we age, our cells acquire DNA mutations, resulting in cell-to-cell genomic heterogeneity. We characterized the landscape of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) heterogeneity in healthy human cells. Our observations provide deeper insight into the frequency of new mitochondrial mutations and the mechanisms that propagate low-level mutations in mtDNA over a lifetime.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Landscape of mtDNA dynamics in somatic lineages over a lifetime.

References

  1. Ogawa, H., Horitani, K., Izumiya, Y. & Sano, S. Somatic mosaicism in biology and disease. Annu. Rev. Physiol. 84, 113–133 (2022). This review article highlights recent advances in understanding somatic mosaicism across various tissues.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Stewart, J. B. & Chinnery, P. F. The dynamics of mitochondrial DNA heteroplasmy: implications for human health and disease. Nat. Rev. Genet. 16, 530–542 (2015). This review article provides an overview of dynamic changes in mtDNA heteroplasmy.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Park, S. et al. Clonal dynamics in early human embryogenesis inferred from somatic mutations. Nature 597, 393–397 (2021). This paper reports on reconstructing developmental phylogenies using somatic mutations as cellular barcodes.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Ju, Y. S. et al. Origins and functional consequences of somatic mitochondrial DNA mutations in human cancer. eLife 3, e02935 (2014). This paper describes somatic alterations in mtDNA from 1,675 cancers.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Yuan, Y. et al. Comprehensive molecular characterization of mitochondrial genomes in human cancers. Nat. Genet. 52, 342–352 (2020). This paper provides the mutational landscape of mtDNA in 2,658 cancers across 38 tumor types.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This is a summary of: An, J. et al. Mitochondrial DNA mosaicism in normal human somatic cells. Nat. Genet. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-024-01838-z (2024).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Unravelling the origins and forces that shape mtDNA mutations in human cells. Nat Genet 56, 1554–1555 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-024-01837-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-024-01837-0

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Translational Research

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma.

Get what matters in translational research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Translational Research