Proliferation without nuclei suggests mitochondrial cells (MitoCells) to be prokaryotic nature

Abstract

It is widely believed that evolutionarily advanced cells require nuclei rich in DNA to proliferate, while mitochondria isolated from nuclei cannot proliferate. We have developed a novel stable cell line, designated "mitochondrial cells (MitoCells)", maintaining active mitochondria, the majority of which lacked nuclei. MitoCells can be continuously generated in culture. Herein, we report proliferation studies of MitoCells. We found that the nuclear DNA-less (nDNA-less) MitoCells, which were sorted with flow cytometry and were filtrated with 1.2 μmeter and 3 μmeter isopore membrane filters, could exist and proliferate. We also confirmed that the sorted nDNA-less MitoCells had mitochondrial DNA(mtDNA) with T9176C mutation analysis and that the unsorted MitoCells had SURF-1 gene of nDNA. These results suggest that MitoCells could have prokaryotic nature with both mtDNA and nDNA.

"“Mitochondrial Cells” Can Live Without a Nucleus, and Possess Proteins Encoded by Both Nuclear and Mitochondrial DNA"

“…Mito Cells lack nuclei but maintain mitochondrial activity. Moreover, MitoCells grow continuously in culture, despite the absence of nuclei [4] and TCA cycle enzymes [5]. We analyzed MitoCells at the molecular level and found that they had cytoskeletal proteins encoded by nuclear DNA (nDNA) and mitochondrial respiratory enzymes encoded by both nDNA and mtDNA.…”