Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40238457›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2025

The POLγ Y951N patient mutation disrupts the switch between DNA synthesis and proofreading, triggering mitochondrial DNA instability.

Josefin M E Forslund, Tran V H Nguyen, Vimal Parkash, Andreas Berner, Steffi Goffart, Jaakko L O Pohjoismäki, Paulina H Wanrooij, Erik Johansson, Sjoerd Wanrooij

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Mitochondrial metabolism and cancer therapeutic innovation.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2025
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Josefin M E ForslundDepartment of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Umeå University, Umeå 90187, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0003-0935-6014
Tran V H NguyenDepartment of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Umeå University, Umeå 90187, Sweden.ORCID 0009-0006-8570-0402
Vimal ParkashDepartment of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Umeå University, Umeå 90187, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0003-4365-6213
Andreas BernerDepartment of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Umeå University, Umeå 90187, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0001-7864-8403
Steffi GoffartDepartment of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu FI-80101, Finland.
Jaakko L O PohjoismäkiDepartment of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu FI-80101, Finland.ORCID 0000-0002-1185-3610
Paulina H WanrooijDepartment of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Umeå University, Umeå 90187, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0002-8607-7564
Erik JohanssonDepartment of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Umeå University, Umeå 90187, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0002-8526-6224
Sjoerd WanrooijDepartment of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Umeå University, Umeå 90187, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0001-6126-4382

Funding

Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse (Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation) KAW.2019.0307Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse (Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation) KAW 2021.0053Svenska Sällskapet för Medicinsk Forskning (SSMF) S17-0023Vetenskapsrådet (VR) 2019-01874Vetenskapsrådet (VR) VR 2023-02160Vetenskapsrådet (VR) VR-MH 2018-0278
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) stability, essential for cellular energy production, relies on DNA polymerase gamma (POLγ). Here, we show that the POLγ Y951N disease-causing mutation induces replication stalling and severe mtDNA depletion. However, unlike other POLγ disease-causing mutations, Y951N does not directly impair exonuclease activity and only mildly affects polymerase activity. Instead, we found that Y951N compromises the enzyme's ability to efficiently toggle between DNA synthesis and degradation, and is thus a patient-derived mutation with impaired polymerase-exonuclease switching. These findings provide insights into the intramolecular switch when POLγ proofreads the newly synthesized DNA strand and reveal a new mechanism for causing mitochondrial DNA instability.

Indexed as

DNA-Directed DNA PolymeraseDNA, MitochondrialDNA Polymerase gammaDNA ReplicationGenomic InstabilityMutationHumansDNA-Directed DNA PolymeraseDNA, MitochondrialDNA Polymerase gammaPOLG protein, humanDNA polymerasesmitochondriamitochondrial diseasemtDNAmtDNA replication

Identifiers

PMID40238457
PMCPMC12036981

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.