MTERFD1 functions as an oncogene

MTERFD1, also named MTERF3 (mitochondrial transcription termination factor 3), regulates transcription of the mitochondrial genome. MTERFD1 is a mitochondrial protein that represses mammalian mitochondrial DNA initiation in vivo. In this study, we found that MTERFD1 gene amplification and high expression existed in many different types of cancer. Significantly, increased expression of MTERFD1 gene was correlated with lower overall survival rate in clinical. Overexpression of MTERFD1 gene promoted to tumor cell growth in vivo and in vitro and increased the percentage of cells in S phase. In conclusion, our data firstly indicated the MTERFD1 was an oncogene in many types of cancer.