title: Mitochondrial DNA mutations in human tumor cells.
abstract: Mitochondria play significant roles in cellular energy metabolism, free radical generation and apoptosis. The dysfunction of mitochondria is correlated with the origin and progression of tumors; thus, mutations in the mitochondrial genome that affect mitochondrial function may be one of the causal factors of tumorigenesis. Although the role of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations in carcinogenesis has been investigated extensively by various approaches, the conclusions remain controversial to date. This review briefly summarizes the recent progress in this field.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Southeast University School of Medicine; ; The Key Laboratory of Developmental Genes and Human Disease, Ministry of Education, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210009,  P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ze-Hui
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Hong