Several authors have addressed the importance of mitochondrial function in inflammatory syndromes, as it may play a role in the genesis of tissue injury. Sepsis and exposition to environmental particles are examples of inflammatory conditions. Sepsis occurs with an exacerbated inflammatory response that damages tissue mitochondria and impairs bioenergetic processes. One of the current hypothese...

Mitochondrial dysfunction and disease may arise as a result of mutations in either the mitochondrial genome itself or nuclear encoded genes involved in mitochondrial homeostasis and function. Irrespective of which genome is affected, mitochondrial encephalopathies share clinical and biochemical features suggesting common pathophysiological pathways. Two common paradigms of mitochondrial encepha...

OBJECTIVE The prevalence of mitochondrial disease has proven difficult to establish, predominantly as a result of clinical and genetic heterogeneity. The phenotypic spectrum of mitochondrial disease has expanded significantly since the original reports that associated classic clinical syndromes with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) rearrangements and point mutations. The revolution in genetic technolo...

The molecular diagnosis of mitochondrial disorders still remains elusive in a large proportion of patients, but advances in next generation sequencing are significantly improving our chances to detect mutations even in sporadic patients. Syndromes associated with mitochondrial DNA multiple deletions are caused by different molecular defects resulting in a wide spectrum of predominantly adult-on...

Ischaemic stroke is a sudden neurological disorder caused by localised cerebral ischaemia and persistent infarction. Occlusion of large arteries due to atherothrombosis, embolism (i.e., embolic infarction), no thrombotic occlusion in small, deep lacunar stenosis proximal hypotension leading decreased blood flow arterial supply zones are the most common causes ischemic hemodynamic stroke). It no...

Early-onset mitochondrial encephalopathies comprise a challenging group of neurodegenerative disorders. This is due to their progressive nature, often leading to major disability and premature death, as well as their diagnostic complexity and lack of customized treatments. The overall aim of the research presented in this thesis was to explore the phenotypic and genotypic spectrum of childhood-...

Mutations of mitochondrial (mt)DNA cause a variety of human diseases and are implicated in premature aging syndromes. Here we investigated a single nucleotide exchange (leucine to methionine) at position nt4738 in the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (Nd2) gene of the respiratory chain. Primary fibroblasts derived from the conplastic mouse strain C57BL/6J-mtALR/LTJ with mutant enzyme,...

Background Chronic progressive external ophtalmoplegia (CPEO) and Kearns-Sayre syndrome (KSS) belong to the broad heterogeneous group of mitochondrial myopathies (MM) a group of neuromuscular disorders resulting from primary dysfunction of the mitochondrial chain with impaired cellular energy metabolism. Recently, a potentially characteristic myocardial fibrosis pattern with intramural late gad...

We designed and engineered mitochondrially targeted obligate heterodimeric zinc finger nucleases (mtZFNs) for site-specific elimination of pathogenic human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). We used mtZFNs to target and cleave mtDNA harbouring the m.8993T>G point mutation associated with neuropathy, ataxia, retinitis pigmentosa (NARP) and the "common deletion" (CD), a 4977-bp repeat-flanked deletion as...