The regulation of mitochondrial DNA copy number in glioblastoma cells

The regulation of mitochondrial DNA copy number in glioblastoma cells

Tumour cells and stem cells share some common traits, they are both proliferative and also appear to be more glycolytic than normal cells. In this paper, Dickinson et al. elucidate the role of mtDNA copy number in glioblastoma cells, by comparison with human neuronal stem cells. They found that depletion of mtDNA in glioblastoma enhanced their differentiation, and prolonged depletion reduced their proliferation. They observed that depleted glioblastoma cells recovered their mtDNA copy number as part of tumorigenesis, supporting the idea of a mtDNA set point.