Figure 3.

Mutation levels determined by subcloning, and ATP measurement by luciferase assay. A total of 97–146 colonies of subcloned PCR products from untreated (A) or 4, 10 and 16 weeks vehicle- or rapamycin-treated (B) heteroplasmic cybrid cells were selected and subjected to SfaNI digestion. The percentage of cloned mtDNA molecules harboring the G11778A mutation provides an estimate of the mutational burden. # indicates clone with the G11778A mutation. (C) WT, heteroplasmic (Het) and homoplasmic (Homo) cybrid cells were treated with rapamycin or vehicle for 12 weeks and intracellular ATP concentrations were measured. Data are represented as mean ± SEM (n = 4 per group). *P < 0.05 by Student's t-test; NS, not significant.