IDENTIFICATION OF CYTOGENETICALLY VISIBLE mtDNA IN INTERPHASE NUCLEI OF HUMAN BLOOD LYMPHOCYTES EXPOSED TO DOXORUBICIN

The endosymbiotic hypothesis suggests that mitochondria were free-living organisms that colonized another cells, and millions of years of co-evolution resulted in the transfer of a large number of genes from mitochondria to the nucleus. Recent studies indicate that this is an ongoing process and can be due to the impact of cells to DNA damaging agents, e.g. radiation or chemical mutagens. Here we demonstrate that cytogenetically visible mitochondrial DNA translocation into interphase nuclei genome in human blood lymphocytes can be identified via fluorescence in situ hybridization after exposure of cells to doxorubicin.