Implications of mitochondrial DNA mutations in human induced pluripotent stem cells.

Abstract

Individual cells in the same induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived clones can exhibit large heterogeneity. In this Comment, Carelli et al. discuss emerging evidence implicating variants in mitochondrial DNA, and highlight the need for routine screening of iPSCs.

Single-cell analyses in recent years have shown major differences in the transcriptome between individual cells in the same induced pluripotent stem cell-derived clones. Although these differences are in part attributable to genetic and epigenetic modifications of the nuclear genome, emerging evidence suggests that variants in mitochondrial DNA also play a pivotal role.