AI Article Synopsis
- Canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT) is a unique form of cancer in dogs, dating back around 11,000 years and affecting dogs worldwide.
- Researchers analyzed 449 complete mitochondrial DNA sequences from CTVT cases and found that mitochondrial DNA has been transferred between different hosts at least five times, creating distinct tumor groups that align with historical dog migrations.
- The study suggests that this captured mitochondrial DNA helps drive the spread of CTVT globally and emphasizes the critical role of mitochondrial DNA in the evolution of cancer.
Article Abstract
Canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT) is a clonally transmissible cancer that originated approximately 11,000 years ago and affects dogs worldwide. Despite the clonal origin of the CTVT nuclear genome, CTVT mitochondrial genomes (mtDNAs) have been acquired by periodic capture from transient hosts. We sequenced 449 complete mtDNAs from a global population of CTVTs, and show that mtDNA horizontal transfer has occurred at least five times, delineating five tumour clades whose distributions track two millennia of dog global migration. Negative selection has operated to prevent accumulation of deleterious mutations in captured mtDNA, and recombination has caused occasional mtDNA re-assortment. These findings implicate functional mtDNA as a driver of CTVT global metastatic spread, further highlighting the important role of mtDNA in cancer evolution.
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4869914 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.14552 | DOI Listing |
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