Random Mitochondrial DNA Mutations and Genome Copy Number in Colorectal Tissue.

<p>(A) Frequency of mitochondrial mutation as a function of age. Mutation frequency was determined at the 12S rRNA gene (blue) and COXI gene (red) in mtDNA isolated from normal human colorectal tissue. Each data point represents one patient. (B) Mitochondrial genome content (± s.e.m.) in normal and tumor tissue. (C) Average frequency of random mitochondrial mutations in colorectal tissue. Mean (± s.e.m.) mutation frequency within the 12S rRNA gene and COXI gene in mtDNA isolated from patient-matched normal (n = 20), adenoma (n = 8), and carcinoma (n = 20) colorectal tissues. (D) Patient-matched comparison of the mean (± s.e.m.) mtDNA random mutation frequency as stratified by carcinomas that harbored one or more clonal mutation.