Abstract.
Fragments of mitochondrial DNA are released from mitochondria upon opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore. Cyclosporin A, an inhibitor of pore opening, completely prevented the release of mitochondrial fragments. Induction of mitochondrial permeability transition and subsequent release of the fragments of mitochondrial DNA could be one cause of genomic instability in the cell.
Key words. mtDNA, mitochondria, calcium, cyclosporin A, membrane potential
Footnotes
Received 22 September 2004; received after revision 11 October 2004; accepted 18 October 2004
M. Patrushev, V. Kasymov and V. Patrusheva contributed equally to this work.