Human mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) is a multi-functional protein, involved in different aspects of maintaining mitochondrial genome integrity. In this report, we characterized TFAM and its interaction with tumor suppressor p53 using various biophysical methods. DNA-free TFAM is a thermally unstable protein that is in equilibrium between monomers and dimers. Self-association of TF...

Oxidative stress-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage in peripheral neurons is considered to be important in the development of diabetic neuropathy. Mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) wraps mtDNA and promotes mtDNA replication and transcription. We studied whether overexpression of TFAM reverses experimental peripheral diabetic neuropathy using TFAM tr...

In colorectal cancer, no study has been carried out discovering the relationship among p53, mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) expression and change of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number. In our study, co-expression of p53 and TFAM was observed in colon adenocarcinoma tissues, paracancerous tissues and 9 colorectal cancer cell lines. Then, a significant linear correlation was establ...

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number regulation is altered in several human mtDNA-mutation diseases and it is also important in a variety of normal physiological processes. Mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) is essential for human mtDNA transcription and we demonstrate here that it is also a key regulator of mtDNA copy number. We initially performed in vitro transcription studies and ...

Human mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) is a high-mobility group (HMG) protein at the nexus of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) replication, transcription, and inheritance. Little is known about the mechanisms underlying its posttranslational regulation. Here, we demonstrate that TFAM is phosphorylated within its HMG box 1 (HMG1) by cAMP-dependent protein kinase in mitochondria. HMG1 phospho...

Mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), a member of the high mobility group proteins, is essential for maintenance of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Most TFAM and mtDNA (both of which are normally soluble) was recovered from the particulate fraction of human placental mitochondria when extracted with the non-ionic detergent Nonidet P-40. mtDNA and TFAM were co-immunoprecipitated by anti-TFAM a...

Themitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) is required for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) replication and transcription. Disruption of TFAM results in heart failure and premature aging in mice. But very little is known about the role of TFAM in cancer development. Here, we report the identification of frequent frameshift mutations in the coding mononucleotide repeat of TFAM in sporadic colorecta...

Endogenous molecules released by dying cells [i.e., damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs)] after trauma and severe blood loss can activate pattern recognition receptors, leading to a cascade of inflammatory responses and organ injury. Mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) is a transcription factor for mitochondrial DNA. TFAM is structurally related to high mobility group box 1 (HMG...

Nuclear and mitochondrial (mt) forms of chicken mt transcription factor A (c-TFAM) generated by alternative splicing of a gene (c-tfam) were cloned. c-tfam mapped at 6q1.1-q1.2 has similar exon/intron organization as mouse tfam except that the first exons encoding the nuclear and the mt form-specific sequences were positioned oppositely. When cDNA encoding the nuclear form was transiently expre...