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Efficient mitochondrial biogenesis drives incomplete penetrance in Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy.

ABSTRACT: Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy is a maternally inherited blinding disease caused as a result of homoplasmic point mutations in complex I subunit genes of mitochondrial DNA. It is characterized by incomplete penetrance, as only some mutation carriers become affected. Thus, the mitochondrial DNA mutation is necessary but not sufficient to cause optic neuropathy. Environmental triggers and genetic modifying factors have been considered to explain its variable penetrance. We measured the mitochondrial DNA copy number and mitochondrial mass indicators in blood cells from affected and carrier individuals, screening three large pedigrees and 39 independently collected smaller families with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy, as well as muscle biopsies and cells isolated by laser capturing from post-mortem specimens of retina and optic nerves, the latter being the disease targets. We show that unaffected mutation carriers have a significantly higher mitochondrial DNA copy number and mitochondrial mass compared with their affected relatives and control individuals. Comparative studies of fibroblasts from affected, carriers and controls, under different paradigms of metabolic demand, show that carriers display the highest capacity for activating mitochondrial biogenesis. Therefore we postulate that the increased mitochondrial biogenesis in carriers may overcome some of the pathogenic effect of mitochondrial DNA mutations. Screening of a few selected genetic variants in candidate genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis failed to reveal any significant association. Our study provides a valuable mechanism to explain variability of penetrance in Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy and clues for high throughput genetic screening to identify the nuclear modifying gene(s), opening an avenue to develop predictive genetic tests on disease risk and therapeutic strategies.

SUBMITTER: Giordano C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3914475 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Efficient mitochondrial biogenesis drives incomplete penetrance in Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy.

Giordano Carla C Iommarini Luisa L Giordano Luca L Maresca Alessandra A Pisano Annalinda A Valentino Maria Lucia ML Caporali Leonardo L Liguori Rocco R Deceglie Stefania S Roberti Marina M Fanelli Francesca F Fracasso Flavio F Ross-Cisneros Fred N FN D'Adamo Pio P Hudson Gavin G Pyle Angela A Yu-Wai-Man Patrick P Chinnery Patrick F PF Zeviani Massimo M Salomao Solange R SR Berezovsky Adriana A Belfort Rubens R Ventura Dora Fix DF Moraes Milton M Moraes Filho Milton M Barboni Piero P Sadun Federico F De Negri Annamaria A Sadun Alfredo A AA Tancredi Andrea A Mancini Massimiliano M d'Amati Giulia G Loguercio Polosa Paola P Cantatore Palmiro P Carelli Valerio V

Brain : a journal of neurology 20131224 Pt 2

Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy is a maternally inherited blinding disease caused as a result of homoplasmic point mutations in complex I subunit genes of mitochondrial DNA. It is characterized by incomplete penetrance, as only some mutation carriers become affected. Thus, the mitochondrial DNA mutation is necessary but not sufficient to cause optic neuropathy. Environmental triggers and genetic modifying factors have been considered to explain its variable penetrance. We measured the mitoch ...[more]

PMID: 24369379

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Project description:PurposeTo screen mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variations in Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON).MethodsTen LHON patients were selected from neuro-ophthalmology clinics of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India. Clinical evaluation included slit-lamp biomicroscopy, fundus examination, and neuroimaging. DNA was isolated from whole blood samples. The entire coding region of the mitochondrial genome was amplified by PCR in ten patients and 20 controls. The full mtDNA genome except D-loop was sequenced. All sequences were analyzed against mitochondrial reference sequence NC_012920.ResultsMtDNA sequencing revealed a total of 30 nucleotide variations in the ten LHON patients and 29 in the 20 controls. Of 30 changes, 30.00% (9/30) were nonsynonymous, and the remaining 70.00% (21/30) were synonymous. In controls, a total of five changes were nonsynonymous. Out of the total 14 nonsynonymous changes observed in cases and controls, four (p.A52T in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide [NADH] dehydrogenase [ND1] protein; p.L128Q in ND2; p.W48R in ATPase6; p.R340H in ND4 protein) were pathogenic. Four patients were positive for either of pathogenic changes. In total, 16.66% (5/30) variations were novel out of which 40.00% (2/5) were nonsynonymous. All novel variations were submitted to the GenBank database, and accession numbers were obtained. Primary LHON mutations in complex I genes have been considered a hallmark feature of LHON patients, and primary LHON mutations were present in two cases in this study. Mutations in complex I genes (ND genes) account for 50%-90% of LHON pedigrees in different ethnic pedigrees. In this study the highest numbers of changes were also present in complex I genes (46.66%; 14/30) followed by complex IV (30.00%; 9/30), complex III (16.66%; 5/30), and then complex V (6.66%; 2/30). Complex I had 5/30 (16.66%) nonsynonymous changes, complex III had 1/30 (3.33%), complex IV had 1/30 (3.33%), and complex V had 2/30 (6.66%) nonsynonymous changes. Nonsynonymous mutations in cytochrome c oxidase (COX) genes have been reported previously in LHON patients. Nonsynonymous mtDNA variations may adversely affect the respiratory chain and impair the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) pathway, resulting in low ATP production and elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, which cause oxidative stress. It has previously been reported that oxidative stress (OS) leads to oxidative damage of cellular macromolecules, such as mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, proteins, and lipids along with energy depletion and a local imbalance of calcium homeostasis, resulting in neuronal degeneration. OS is the underlying etiology in several ocular diseases and also plays an essential role in LHON.ConclusionsA total of five novel mtDNA variations were identified in this study. Nonsynonymous mtDNA variations may adversely affect the respiratory chain and impair the OXPHOS pathway, resulting in low ATP production and elevated ROS levels. OS further damages both nuclear and mtDNA. This preliminary study describes mtDNA sequence variations in a relatively small number of LHON patients of north Indian ethnic origin. However, these results should be confirmed in other populations. Early diagnosis of mtDNA variations and prompt anti-oxidant administration in these cases may delay OS-induced injury to retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and hence improve visual prognosis.

Project description:Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is a common cause of inherited blindness, primarily due to one of three mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations. These mtDNA pathogenic mutations have variable clinical penetrance. Recent linkage evidence raised the possibility that the nuclear gene optic atrophy 1 (OPA1) determines whether mtDNA mutation carriers develop blindness. To validate these findings we studied OPA1 in three independent LHON cohorts: sequencing the gene in discordant male sib pairs, carrying out a family-based association study of common functional genetic variants, and carrying out a population-based association study of the same genetic variants.We tested 3 hypothesis in three separate study groups. Study group 1: Direct sequencing of OPA1 coding regions was performed using sequencing methodologies (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA). Chromatograms were compared with the GenBank reference sequence NM_015560.1. Splice-site prediction was performed using GeneSplicer. Study group 2: Genotyping for rs166850 and rs10451941 was performed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis with specific primers for both genotypes, using The restriction enzymes RsaI and FspBI to discriminate genotypes. Study group 3: Genotyping for rs166850 and rs10451941 was performed by primer extension of allele-specific extensions products by matrix-associated laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF, Seqeunom, San Diego, CA) mass spectrometry. Allele and genotype frequencies were compared using Pearson's chi-square test. Multiple logistic regression was performed to look for interactions between the variables. All analyses were performed using SPSS software version 17.0 (SPSS Inc.).In all three groups we were unable to find an association between OPA1 genetic variation and visual failure in LHON mtDNA mutation carriers.Our findings suggest that genetic variation in OPA1 is unlikely to make a major contribution to the risk of blindness in LHON mutation carriers.

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Efficient mitochondrial biogenesis drives incomplete penetrance in Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy.

Publications

Efficient mitochondrial biogenesis drives incomplete penetrance in Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy.

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