1. |
- Strakova, A., et al.
(author)
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Recurrent horizontal transfer identifies mitochondrial positive selection in a transmissible cancer
- 2020
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In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Autonomous replication and segregation of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) creates the potential for evolutionary conflict driven by emergence of haplotypes under positive selection for 'selfish' traits, such as replicative advantage. However, few cases of this phenomenon arising within natural populations have been described. Here, we survey the frequency of mtDNA horizontal transfer within the canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT), a contagious cancer clone that occasionally acquires mtDNA from its hosts. Remarkably, one canine mtDNA haplotype, A1d1a, has repeatedly and recently colonised CTVT cells, recurrently replacing incumbent CTVT haplotypes. An A1d1a control region polymorphism predicted to influence transcription is fixed in the products of an A1d1a recombination event and occurs somatically on other CTVT mtDNA backgrounds. We present a model whereby 'selfish' positive selection acting on a regulatory variant drives repeated fixation of A1d1a within CTVT cells.
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2. |
- van der Lee, S. J., et al.
(author)
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A nonsynonymous mutation in PLCG2 reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementia, and increases the likelihood of longevity
- 2019
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In: Acta Neuropathologica. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0001-6322 .- 1432-0533. ; 138:2, s. 237-250
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The genetic variant rs72824905-G (minor allele) in the PLCG2 gene was previously associated with a reduced Alzheimer's disease risk (AD). The role of PLCG2 in immune system signaling suggests it may also protect against other neurodegenerative diseases and possibly associates with longevity. We studied the effect of the rs72824905-G on seven neurodegenerative diseases and longevity, using 53,627 patients, 3,516 long-lived individuals and 149,290 study-matched controls. We replicated the association of rs72824905-G with reduced AD risk and we found an association with reduced risk of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). We did not find evidence for an effect on Parkinson's disease (PD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple sclerosis (MS) risks, despite adequate sample sizes. Conversely, the rs72824905-G allele was associated with increased likelihood of longevity. By-proxy analyses in the UK Biobank supported the associations with both dementia and longevity. Concluding, rs72824905-G has a protective effect against multiple neurodegenerative diseases indicating shared aspects of disease etiology. Our findings merit studying the PLC gamma 2 pathway as drug-target.
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3. |
- Burr, S. P., et al.
(author)
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Cell lineage-specific mitochondrial resilience during mammalian organogenesis
- 2023
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In: Cell. - : Elsevier BV. - 0092-8674. ; 186:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mitochondrial activity differs markedly between organs, but it is not known how and when this arises. Here we show that cell lineage-specific expression profiles involving essential mitochondrial genes emerge at an early stage in mouse development, including tissue-specific isoforms present before organ formation. However, the nuclear transcriptional signatures were not independent of organelle function. Genetically disrupting intra-mitochondrial protein synthesis with two different mtDNA mutations induced cell lineage-specific compensatory responses, including molecular pathways not previously implicated in organellar maintenance. We saw downregulation of genes whose expression is known to exacerbate the effects of exogenous mito-chondrial toxins, indicating a transcriptional adaptation to mitochondrial dysfunction during embryonic devel-opment. The compensatory pathways were both tissue and mutation specific and under the control of tran-scription factors which promote organelle resilience. These are likely to contribute to the tissue specificity which characterizes human mitochondrial diseases and are potential targets for organ-directed treatments.
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4. |
- Connor, T. M., et al.
(author)
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Mutations in mitochondrial DNA causing tubulointerstitial kidney disease
- 2017
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In: Plos Genetics. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1553-7404. ; 13:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Tubulointerstitial kidney disease is an important cause of progressive renal failure whose aetiology is incompletely understood. We analysed a large pedigree with maternally inherited tubulointerstitial kidney disease and identified a homoplasmic substitution in the control region of the mitochondrial genome (m.547A> T). While mutations in mtDNA coding sequence are a well recognised cause of disease affecting multiple organs, mutations in the control region have never been shown to cause disease. Strikingly, our patients did not have classical features of mitochondrial disease. Patient fibroblasts showed reduced levels of mitochondrial tRNA(Phe), tRNA(Leu1) and reduced mitochondrial protein translation and respiration. Mitochondrial transfer demonstrated mitochondrial transmission of the defect and in vitro assays showed reduced activity of the heavy strand promoter. We also identified further kindreds with the same phenotype carrying a homoplasmic mutation in mitochondrial tRNA Phe (m.616T> C). Thus mutations in mitochondrial DNA can cause maternally inherited renal disease, likely mediated through reduced function of mitochondrial tRNA(Phe)
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5. |
- Hathazi, D., et al.
(author)
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Metabolic shift underlies recovery in reversible infantile respiratory chain deficiency
- 2020
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In: Embo Journal. - : EMBO. - 0261-4189 .- 1460-2075. ; 39:23
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Reversible infantile respiratory chain deficiency (RIRCD) is a rare mitochondrial myopathy leading to severe metabolic disturbances in infants, which recover spontaneously after 6-months of age. RIRCD is associated with the homoplasmic m.14674T>C mitochondrial DNA mutation; however, only similar to 1/100 carriers develop the disease. We studied 27 affected and 15 unaffected individuals from 19 families and found additional heterozygous mutations in nuclear genes interacting with mt-tRNAGlu including EARS2 and TRMU in the majority of affected individuals, but not in healthy carriers of m.14674T>C, supporting a digenic inheritance. Our transcriptomic and proteomic analysis of patient muscle suggests a stepwise mechanism where first, the integrated stress response associated with increased FGF21 and GDF15 expression enhances the metabolism modulated by serine biosynthesis, one carbon metabolism, TCA lipid oxidation and amino acid availability, while in the second step mTOR activation leads to increased mitochondrial biogenesis. Our data suggest that the spontaneous recovery in infants with digenic mutations may be modulated by the above described changes. Similar mechanisms may explain the variable penetrance and tissue specificity of other mtDNA mutations and highlight the potential role of amino acids in improving mitochondrial disease.
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6. |
- Raap, A. K., et al.
(author)
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Non-Random mtDNA Segregation Patterns Indicate a Metastable Heteroplasmic Segregation Unit in m.3243A>G Cybrid Cells
- 2012
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In: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 7:12, s. e52080-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Many pathogenic mitochondrial DNA mutations are heteroplasmic, with a mixture of mutated and wild-type mtDNA present within individual cells. The severity and extent of the clinical phenotype is largely due to the distribution of mutated molecules between cells in different tissues, but mechanisms underpinning segregation are not fully understood. To facilitate mtDNA segregation studies we developed assays that measure m.3243A>G point mutation loads directly in hundreds of individual cells to determine the mechanisms of segregation over time. In the first study of this size, we observed a number of discrete shifts in cellular heteroplasmy between periods of stable heteroplasmy. The observed patterns could not be parsimoniously explained by random mitotic drift of individual mtDNAs. Instead, a genetically metastable, heteroplasmic mtDNA segregation unit provides the likely explanation, where stable heteroplasmy is maintained through the faithful replication of segregating units with a fixed wild-type/m.3243A>G mutant ratio, and shifts occur through the temporary disruption and re-organization of the segregation units. While the nature of the physical equivalent of the segregation unit remains uncertain, the factors regulating its organization are of major importance for the pathogenesis of mtDNA diseases.
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7. |
- Turro, Ernest, et al.
(author)
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Whole-genome sequencing of patients with rare diseases in a national health system.
- 2020
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 583:7814, s. 96-102
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Most patients with rare diseases do not receive a molecular diagnosis and the aetiological variants and causative genes for more than half such disorders remain to be discovered1. Here we used whole-genome sequencing (WGS) in a national health system to streamline diagnosis and to discover unknown aetiological variants in the coding and non-coding regions of the genome. We generated WGS data for 13,037 participants, of whom 9,802 had a rare disease, and provided a genetic diagnosis to 1,138 of the 7,065extensively phenotypedparticipants. We identified 95 Mendelian associations between genes and rare diseases, of which 11 have been discovered since 2015 and at least 79 are confirmed to be aetiological. By generating WGS data ofUK Biobankparticipants2, we found that rare alleles can explain the presence of some individuals in the tails of a quantitative trait for red blood cells. Finally, we identified four novel non-coding variants that cause disease through the disruption of transcription of ARPC1B, GATA1, LRBA and MPL. Our study demonstrates a synergy by using WGS for diagnosis and aetiological discovery in routine healthcare.
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8. |
- Tan, Benedict, et al.
(author)
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The human mitochondrial genome contains a second light strand promoter
- 2022
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In: Molecular Cell. - : Elsevier BV. - 1097-2765. ; 82:19, s. 3646-3660
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The human mitochondrial genome must be replicated and expressed in a timely manner to maintain energy metabolism and supply cells with adequate levels of adenosine triphosphate. Central to this process is the idea that replication primers and gene products both arise via transcription from a single light strand promoter (LSP) such that primer formation can influence gene expression, with no consensus as to how this is regulated. Here, we report the discovery of a second light strand promoter (LSP2) in humans, with features characteristic of a bona fide mitochondrial promoter. We propose that the position of LSP2 on the mitochondrial genome allows replication and gene expression to be orchestrated from two distinct sites, which ex-pands our long-held understanding of mitochondrial gene expression in humans.
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9. |
- Euro, L., et al.
(author)
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Structural modeling of tissue-specific mitochondrial alanyl-tRNA synthetase (AARS2) defects predicts differential effects on aminoacylation
- 2015
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In: Frontiers in Genetics. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-8021. ; 5:FEB
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The accuracy of mitochondrial protein synthesis is dependent on the coordinated action of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (mtARSs) and the mitochondrial DNA-encoded tRNAs. The recent advances in whole-exome sequencing have revealed the importance of the mtARS proteins for mitochondrial pathophysiology since nearly every nuclear gene for mtARS (out of 19) is now recognized as a disease gene for mitochondrial disease. Typically, defects in each mtARS have been identified in one tissue-specific disease, most commonly affecting the brain, or in one syndrome. However, mutations in the AARS2 gene for mitochondrial alanyl-tRNA synthetase (mtAlaRS) have been reported both in patients with infantile-onset cardiomyopathy and in patients with childhood to adulthood-onset leukoencephalopathy. We present here an investigation of the effects of the described mutations on the structure of the synthetase, in an effort to understand the tissue-specific outcomes of the different mutations. The mtAlaRS differs from the other mtARSs because in addition to the aminoacylation domain, it has a conserved editing domain for deacylating tRNAs that have been mischarged with incorrect amino acids. We show that the cardiomyopathy phenotype results from a single allele, causing an amino acid change R592W in the editing domain of AARS2, whereas the leukodystrophy mutations are located in other domains of the synthetase. Nevertheless, our structural analysis predicts that all mutations reduce the aminoacylation activity of the synthetase, because all mtAlaRS domains contribute to tRNA binding for aminoacylation. According to our model, the cardiomyopathy mutations severely compromise aminoacylation whereas partial activity is retained by the mutation combinations found in the leukodystrophy patients. These predictions provide a hypothesis for the molecular basis of the distinct tissue-specific phenotypic outcomes.
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10. |
- Horvath, Rita, et al.
(author)
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Molecular basis of infantile reversible cytochrome c oxidase deficiency myopathy.
- 2009
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In: Brain : a journal of neurology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1460-2156. ; 132:Pt 11, s. 3165-74
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Childhood-onset mitochondrial encephalomyopathies are usually severe, relentlessly progressive conditions that have a fatal outcome. However, a puzzling infantile disorder, long known as 'benign cytochrome c oxidase deficiency myopathy' is an exception because it shows spontaneous recovery if infants survive the first months of life. Current investigations cannot distinguish those with a good prognosis from those with terminal disease, making it very difficult to decide when to continue intensive supportive care. Here we define the principal molecular basis of the disorder by identifying a maternally inherited, homoplasmic m.14674T>C mt-tRNA(Glu) mutation in 17 patients from 12 families. Our results provide functional evidence for the pathogenicity of the mutation and show that tissue-specific mechanisms downstream of tRNA(Glu) may explain the spontaneous recovery. This study provides the rationale for a simple genetic test to identify infants with mitochondrial myopathy and good prognosis.
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11. |
- Nicholls, Thomas J., et al.
(author)
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Topoisomerase 3α Is Required for Decatenation and Segregation of Human mtDNA
- 2018
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In: Molecular Cell. - : Elsevier BV. - 1097-2765 .- 1097-4164. ; 69:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- How mtDNA replication is terminated and the newly formed genomes are separated remain unknown. We here demonstrate that the mitochondrial isoform of topoisomerase 3α (Top3α) fulfills this function, acting independently of its nuclear role as a component of the Holliday junction-resolving BLM-Top3α-RMI1-RMI2 (BTR) complex. Our data indicate that mtDNA replication termination occurs via a hemicatenane formed at the origin of H-strand replication and that Top3α is essential for resolving this structure. Decatenation is a prerequisite for separation of the segregating unit of mtDNA, the nucleoid, within the mitochondrial network. The importance of this process is highlighted in a patient with mitochondrial disease caused by biallelic pathogenic variants in TOP3A, characterized by muscle-restricted mtDNA deletions and chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia (CPEO) plus syndrome. Our work establishes Top3α as an essential component of the mtDNA replication machinery and as the first component of the mtDNA separation machinery. Nicholls et al. identify a role for topoisomerase 3α in the separation of mtDNA following replication. Loss of Top3α activity impairs mtDNA segregation and, consequently, segregation of the mtDNA nucleoid within the mitochondrial network. Mutations in TOP3A cause human mitochondrial disease associated with mtDNA deletions and impaired mtDNA separation. © 2017 Elsevier Inc.
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