ArticleParticle and fibre toxicology2013
Effects of airborne pollutants on mitochondrial DNA methylation.
Article in Particle and fibre toxicology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 102 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
102 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 197 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between atmospheric particulate matter pollution during pregnancy and premature birth in China: a meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Welding Fume Exposure and Epigenetic Alterations: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- Childhood exposure to ambient polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is linked to epigenetic modifications and impaired systemic immunity in T cells.Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology · 2015Trial
- Air Pollution Triggers Metabolomic Signature of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Mice and Humans: Implications for Cardiovascular Disease Development.Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology · 2026Article
- Impact of Air Pollution on Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Mitochondrial D-Loop Region Methylation Is Not Altered in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Epigenomes · 2026Article
- Mitochondria and the epigenome: maternal co-inheritance and crosstalk from oocyte to embryo.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2026Review
- Higher mitochondrial DNA methylation is associated with increased risk of stroke: a nested case-control study.Human genetics · 2026Article
- Longitudinal Analysis of Mitochondrial D-Loop Methylation and Copy Number in Peripheral Blood: Epigenetic Signatures of Alzheimer's Disease Progression and Aging.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Review
- Reduction in mitochondrial DNA methylation leads to compensatory increase in mitochondrial DNA content: novel blood-borne biomarkers for monitoring occupational noise.Environmental health and preventive medicine · 2025Article
- Exposure to Metals, Pesticides, and Air Pollutants: Focus on Resulting DNA Methylation Changes in Neurodegenerative Diseases.Biomolecules · 2024Review
- Mitochondrial DNA content and methylation in sperm of patients with asthenozoospermia.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2024Article
- The Association between Short-Term Exposure to PMToxics · 2024Article
- Associations between mitochondrial biomarkers, urban residential exposures and childhood asthma outcomes over 6 months.Environmental research · 2023Article
- PMInternational journal of cardiology. Cardiovascular risk and prevention · 2023Review
- Review
- Optimized bisulfite sequencing analysis reveals the lack of 5-methylcytosine in mammalian mitochondrial DNA.BMC genomics · 2023Article
- Characterization of Mitochondrial DNA Methylation of Alzheimer's Disease in Plasma Cell-Free DNA.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Article
42 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMitochondria have small mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecules independent from the nuclear DNA, a separate epigenetic machinery that generates mtDNA methylation, and are primary sources of oxidative-stress generation in response to exogenous environments. However, no study has yet investigated whether mitochondrial DNA methylation is sensitive to pro-oxidant environmental exposures.
methodsWe sampled 40 male participants (20 high-, 20 low-exposure) from each of three studies on airborne pollutants, including investigations of steel workers exposed to metal-rich particulate matter (measured as PM1) in Brescia, Italy (Study 1); gas-station attendants exposed to air benzene in Milan, Italy (Study 2); and truck drivers exposed to traffic-derived Elemental Carbon (EC) in Beijing, China (Study 3). We have measured DNA methylation from buffy coats of the participants. We measured methylation by bisulfite-Pyrosequencing in three mtDNA regions, i.e., the transfer RNA phenylalanine (MT-TF), 12S ribosomal RNA (MT-RNR1) gene and "D-loop" control region. All analyses were adjusted for age and smoking.
resultsIn Study 1, participants with high metal-rich PM1 exposure showed higher MT-TF and MT-RNR1 methylation than low-exposed controls (difference = 1.41, P = 0.002); MT-TF and MT-RNR1 methylation was significantly associated with PM1 exposure (beta = 1.35, P = 0.025); and MT-RNR1 methylation was positively correlated with mtDNA copy number (r = 0.36; P = 0.02). D-loop methylation was not associated with PM1 exposure. We found no effects on mtDNA methylation from air benzene (Study 2) and traffic-derived EC exposure (Study 3).
conclusionsMitochondrial MT-TF and MT-RNR1 DNA methylation was associated with metal-rich PM1 exposure and mtDNA copy number. Our results suggest that locus-specific mtDNA methylation is correlated to selected exposures and mtDNA damage. Larger studies are needed to validate our observations.
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