Mitochondrial complex I, the largest component of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, comprises 44 subunits of which 7 are encoded by the mitochondrial genome and the remainder by the nuclear genome. Isolated complex I deficiencies represent a major contribution within the group of respiratory chain defects. We report an atypical case carrying a homozygous NDUFS4 missense mutation, with late-o...

Exome sequencing identified compound heterozygous mutations in the recently discovered mitochondrial methionyl-tRNA formyltransferase (MTFMT) gene in two sisters with mild Leigh syndrome and combined respiratory chain deficiency. The mutations lead to undetectable levels of the MTFMT protein. Blue native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed decreased complexes I and IV, and additional prod...

When I tell people that I am a mathematics major and a studio art minor, overwhelmingly the response I get is one of surprise that I have chosen such a strange combination of disciplines. “They’re so different from each other!” people exclaim. Mathematics is often considered a “left-brained” discipline, logical and linear in its structure, and art a “rightbrained” activity, stirring one’s intui...

Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is caused by point mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and is characterized by bilateral, painless sub-acute visual loss that develops during the second decade of life. Here we report the case of a five year old girl who presented with clinical and neuroradiological findings reminiscent of Leigh syndrome but carried a mtDNA mutation m.11778G>A (p.R34...

Mutations in the nuclear SURF1 gene are specifically associated with cytochrome c oxidase (COX)-deficient Leigh syndrome. MR imaging abnormalities in three children with this condition involved the subthalamic nuclei, medulla, inferior cerebellar peduncles, and substantia nigra in all cases. The dentate nuclei and central tegmental tracts were involved in two cases each (all instances), and the...

A 2-year-old girl with no significant family history presented with motor developmental delay and strabismus. MRI revealed unilateral basal ganglia and brainstem lesions (figure 1). Eighteen months later, she developed acute onset right arm weakness, leading to a diagnosis of multiphasic disseminated encephalomyelitis. Treatment with steroids and mycophenolate produced no symptomatic or imaging...

Dystonia is often associated with the symmetrical basal ganglia lesions of Leigh syndrome. However, it has also been associated with mitochondrial ND mutations, with or without Leber hereditary optic neuropathy. The m.14459G>A mutation in ND6 causes dystonia with or without familial Leber hereditary optic neuropathy. We report heteroplasmic 14459G>A mutations in 2 unrelated children with nonmat...