Decreased mitochondrial transcription factor A and mitochondrial DNA copy number promote cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1A expression and reduce tumorigenic properties of colorectal cancer cells.

Purpose: Colorectal cancer is one of the most common and deadliest cancer types worldwide. In the last years, changes in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number have been described to correlate with the prognostic outcome for colorectal cancer patients by impacting different tumorigenic properties. One key regulator of mtDNA is the mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) that acts as a limiting factor of mtDNA copy number.