Supplemental Figure 5. Litter sizes and gender distribution. Female to male ratios with the average litter size and total number of mice used for each strain. For the female to male ratio the average litter size was calculated from over 20 litters generated. The number of females and males from each litter were counted.
ARTICLE ABSTRACT
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations and polymorphisms contribute to many complex diseases, including cancer. Using a unique mouse model that contains nDNA from one mouse strain and homoplasmic mitochondrial haplotypes from different mouse strain(s)—designated Mitochondrial Nuclear Exchange (MNX)—we showed that mtDNA could alter mammary tumor metastasis. Because retrograde and anterograde communication exists between the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes, we hypothesized that there are differential mtDNA-driven changes in nuclear (n)DNA expression and DNA methylation. Genome-wide nDNA methylation and gene expression were measured in harvested brain tissue from paired wild-type and MNX mice. Selective differential DNA methylation and gene expression were observed between strains having identical nDNA, but different mtDNA. These observations provide insights into how mtDNA could be altering epigenetic regulation and thereby contribute to the pathogenesis of metastasis. Cancer Res; 77(22); 6202–14. ©2017 AACR.
