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Lozano-Rosas et al. Hepatoma Res 2018;4:19 Hepatoma Research
DOI: 10.20517/2394-5079.2018.48

Review Open Access

Mitoepigenetics and hepatocellular carcinoma

María Guadalupe Lozano-Rosas, Enrique Chávez, Alejandro Rusbel Aparicio-Cadena,
Gabriela Velasco-Loyden, Victoria Chagoya de Sánchez
Department of Cellular Biology and Development, Institute of Cellular Physiology, National Autonomous University of Mexico,
Mexico City 04510, Mexico.
Correspondence to: Dr. Victoria Chagoya de Sánchez, Department of Cellular Biology and Development, Institute of Cellular
Physiology, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City 04510, Mexico. E-mail: vchagoya@correo.ifc.unam.mx

How to cite this article: Lozano-Rosas MG, Chávez E, Aparicio-Cadena AR, Velasco-Loyden G, Chagoya de Sánchez V.
Mitoepigenetics and hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatoma Res 2018;4:19. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-5079.2018.48

Received: 30 Apr 2018 First Decision: 21 May 2018 Revised: 7 Jun 2018 Accepted: 10 Jun 2018 Published: 19 Jun 2018
Science Editor: Guang-Wen Cao Copy Editor: Jun-Yao Li Production Editor: Cai-Hong Wang

Abstract
Mitochondria are the center of energy production in eukaryotic cells and are crucial for several cellular processes.
Dysfunctional mitochondria have been associated with cancer progression. Mitochondria contain their own circular
DNA (mtDNA), which codes for 13 proteins, 2rRNA, 22tRNA and non-coding RNAs. Recent evidence showed the
presence of 5-methylcytosine and 5-hydroximethylcytosine in mtDNA suggesting that the level of gene expression
could be modulated like a nuclear DNA by direct epigenetic modifications. Mitoepigenetics is a bidirectional
phenomenon in the epigenetic regulation of mitochondrial genes encoded in both the nucleus and the mitochondrion.
This process is affected by SAM-mediated methylation and hydroxymethylation of mtDNA and by nuclear chromatin
+
modulators from mitochondria, such as Acetyl-CoA and NAD . There is some information about physiological and
pathological methylated profiles, but information is scarce for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of this review
is to summarize the mitoepigenetic knowledge in HCC already reported so far, through a keywords search in Medline.
In addition, the deregulation of energy intermediaries needed for the mitoepigenetic regulation is described. As this is a
new area of study, a rigorous analysis and careful interpretation and integration of results are needed.

Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma, mitochondrial genome, mitochondrial epigenome, microRNAs

INTRODUCTION
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly malignant cancer, with high recurrence rate and a poor
prognosis. HCC is a complex pathology associated with chronic liver disease, 80% to 90% are originated
from cirrhosis of diverse etiology, most frequently infections with hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, the
mycotoxin, aflatoxin B1, and the metabolic syndrome .
[1,2]
© The Author(s) 2018. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,
and indicate if changes were made.

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