The ageing mitochondrial genome - PubMed (original) (raw)

Review

The ageing mitochondrial genome

Kim J Krishnan et al. Nucleic Acids Res. 2007.

Abstract

The population of elderly individuals has increased significantly over the past century and is predicted to rise even more rapidly in the future. Ageing is a major risk factor for many diseases such as neurodegenerative disease, diabetes and cancer. This highlights the importance of understanding the mechanisms involved in the ageing process. One plausible mechanism for ageing is accumulation of mutations in the mitochondrial genome. In this review, we discuss some of the most convincing data surrounding age-related mtDNA mutations and the evidence that these mutations contribute to the ageing process.

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Figures

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Histochemical staining to observe the presence of respiratory chain-deficient cells (blue) amongst respiratory chain normal cells (brown) in aged: hippocampus (A), choroid plexus (B) and colonic epithelium (C).

Figure 2.

Figure 2.

Long-range PCR of substantia nigra neurons showing the presence of mtDNA deletions in 10 pooled neurons (lanes 1 and 2), five pooled neurons (lanes 3 and 4), a single neuron (lanes 5 and 6) and control DNA (lane 7). The ladder on the left of the gel is a 1 kb ladder.

Figure 3.

Figure 3.

Schematic diagram displaying how mtDNA mutations could lead to the ageing process and the major evidence in the literature to support this role.

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