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Mitochondrial genetic medicine

Nature Genetics volume 50, pages 1642–1649 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) diseases were discovered 30 years ago, and their characterization has provided a new perspective on the etiology of the common metabolic and degenerative diseases, cancer, and aging. The maternally inherited mtDNA contains 37 critical bioenergetic genes that are present in hundreds of copies per cell, but the ‘mitochondrial genome’ encompasses an additional 1,000–2,000 nuclear DNA (nDNA) mitochondrial genes. The interaction between these two mitochondrial genetic systems provides explanations for phenomena such as the non-Mendelian transmission of the common ‘complex’ diseases, age-related disease risk and progression, variable penetrance and expressivity, and gene–environment interactions. Thus, mtDNA genetics contributes to the quantitative and environmental components of human genetics that cannot be explained by Mendelian genetics. Because mtDNA is maternally inherited and cytoplasmic, it has fostered the first germline gene therapy, nuclear transplantation. However, effective interventions are still lacking for existing patients with mitochondrial dysfunction.

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Fig. 1: Germline mtDNA heteroplasmy segregation and removal by nuclear transplantation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by NIH grants 5R01-NS021328-30, 1R01MH108592-01A1, 1R01MN110185-01A1, R01OD010944-05, and DOD W81XWH-16-1-0401 awarded to D.C.W.

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  1. Center for Mitochondrial and Epigenomic Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Douglas C. Wallace

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Wallace, D.C. Mitochondrial genetic medicine. Nat Genet 50, 1642–1649 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-018-0264-z

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