Limited predictive value of TFAM in mitochondrial biogenesis

Publication date: Available online 13 August 2019Source: MitochondrionAuthor(s): Natalya Kozhukhar, Mikhail F. AlexeyevAbstractMitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) plays an important role in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) transcription and replication. In some experimental settings, TFAM expression parallels parameters of mitochondrial biogenesis, which led to a widespread acceptance of TFAM as marker of mitochondrial biogenesis. We modulated TFAM expression in several experimental systems and observed that it fails to consistently parallel mtDNA copy number and expression of mtDNA-encoded polypeptides. We suggest that the use of TFAM as a marker of mitochondrial biogenesis should be avoided outside of systems in which its performance has been carefully validated.

Source: Mitochondrion - August 14, 2019 Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research