Identification of mitochondrial genome concatemers in AIDS-associated lymphomas and lymphoid cell lines

Since most oncogenic viruses persist as extrachromosomal covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) in tumor cells, we developed an assay to visualize and identify cccDNA in primary lymphomas. We identified concatemers of the mitochondrial genome in all samples analyzed, but not in normal lymphocytes. One AIDS-associated lymphoma (EL) was further studied in detail as its mitochondrial genome consisted of tandem head-to-tail duplications. Insertion of C-residues was noted near the origin of replication of EL mtDNA. EL cells responded weakly to Fas-apoptotic stimulus, displayed reduced mitochondrial activity and mass, and produced higher levels of reactive oxygen intermediates. Screening of several AIDS-associated lymphomas and established lymphoid cell lines also revealed the presence of mitochondrial genome concatemers consisting of interlinked monomer molecules. Taken together, our results suggest that formation of mtDNA concatemers is associated with oncogenic transformation in lymphoid cells.