Formation of mitochondrial genome concatemers as an alternative mechanism promoting oncogenic transformation of lymphoid cells

We have previously shown that AIDS-associated lymphomas and lymphoma cell lines contain mitochondrial genome concatemers not present in normal T-lymphocytes. Since cellular homeostasis and energy production rely heavily on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) stability, mutations in the mtDNA have long been linked to the development of various types of cancers. In most of the cases, however, neoplastically transformed cells harbor non-mutated mtDNA. Herein, we propose an alternative mechanism that shows how the formation of mitochondrial genome concatemers may promote oncogenic transformation of normal lymphoid progenitor cells when no mtDNA mutations or chromosomal aberrations are present. We detected high reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in the lymphoma samples tested despite no identification of putative mutations in the coding mtDNA. We propose that the formation of atypical mtDNA configurations (i.e. dimers and concatemers) interferes with normal mitochondrial function. Unstable mitochondria lead to abnormal assembly and dysfunction of the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) complexes, eventually leading to oxidative stress from elevated production of intracellular ROS. ROS have been reported to activate transcription factors associated with cellular proliferation and apoptosis inhibition. Therefore, we hypothesize that formation of mitochondrial genome concatemers can augment endogenous ROS levels capable of promoting oncogenic transformation of normal lymphoid progenitor cells.