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Updated: Aug 11, 2026
Measuring Single-Cell Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number and Heteroplasmy Using Digital Droplet Polymerase Chain Reaction
Published on: July 12, 2022
Correlation between copy number of mitochondrial DNA and clinico-pathologic parameters of hepatocellular carcinoma
1Department of Surgery II, Graduate School and Faculty of Medicine, University of Nagoya, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan.
Aims:
In the current study, we investigated possible correlations of the mtDNA copy number in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with the pathological findings and prognosis.
Methods:
We studied 31 HCC specimens using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis, and the correlation between the mtDNA copy number and the clinicopathologic parameters and mutations in the D-loop region of the mitochondrial genome.
Results:
The mtDNA copy number was reduced in HCCs compared with the corresponding non-cancerous liver tissues (p=0.002), and significantly correlated with tumour size (p=0.014) and cirrhosis (p=0.048). Patients with a low mtDNA copy number tended to show shorter 5-year survival rates than patients with a high mtDNA copy number when assessed by Kaplan-Meier curves, but not a significant (overall survival rate, 63 vs 83%; p=0.19). The copy number of HCC with mtDNA D-loop mutation or deletion was lower, but not significantly so (p=0.656, p=0.590, respectively).
Conclusions:
Our results indicated that a reduced copy number of mtDNA is correlated with HCC and associated with malignant potential.
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