Human Mitochondrial DNA (human + mitochondrial_dna)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Quantitative analysis of human mitochondrial DNA using a real-time PCR assay

HIV MEDICINE, Issue 3 2003
K Gourlain
Objectives Known for their ability to inhibit the human DNA polymerase-,, nucleoside analogues induce toxic effects on mitochondria ranging from increased serum lactate levels to fatal lactic acidosis. DNA polymerase-, ensures the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) replication and, thus, its inhibition leads to the decrease of the mtDNA. We describe a real-time PCR assay for mtDNA quantification associating DNA extraction procedures applied on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and subcutaneous adipose tissues and to study the antiretroviral effect on mitochondria. Methods Total DNA was extracted from PBMCs and subcutaneous adipose tissues. Nuclear and mitochondrial genes were amplified to determine the number of copies of mtDNA per cell using a cyt-b recombinant plasmid as standard control. We analysed eight HIV-infected asymptomatic patients never treated, four patients who had been treated for 6 months with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and six non-infected donors. Results The mtDNA quantification gave rise to reproducible results as the mean coefficients of variation were 1.09% for replicates of samples undertaken 10 times within the same run, and 5.78% and 3.7% for replicates tested in five different runs at 1:100 and 1:1000 dilutions, respectively. Median levels of mtDNA in PBMCs of healthy donors, naive and treated HIV-infected patients were 2.94, 2.78 and 1.93 log HIV-1 RNA copies/mL, respectively. Whereas DNA from PBMCs was shown to be devoid of inhibitors, subcutaneous adipose tissues needed an extra treatment as they were found to be highly inhibited. Conclusions The method generated consistent and reproducible results and was successfully applied to DNAs extracted from PBMCs and subcutaneous adipose tissues with adapted extraction. The mtDNA changes in PBMCs were found to be fast as they fall off after 6 months' therapy, decreasing from 2.78 to 1.93 log copies/mL. [source]


m.6267G>A: a recurrent mutation in the human mitochondrial DNA that reduces cytochrome c oxidase activity and is associated with tumors,

HUMAN MUTATION, Issue 6 2006
M. Esther Gallardo
Abstract Complete sequencing of the mitochondrial genome of 13 cell lines derived from a variety of human cancers revealed nine novel mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variations. One of them, m.6267G>A, is a recurrent mutation that introduces the Ala122Thr substitution in the mitochondrially encoded cytochrome c oxidase I (MT-CO1): p.MT-CO1: Ala122Thr (GenBank: NP_536845.1). Biochemical analysis of the original cell lines and the transmitochondrial cybrids generated by transferring mitochondrial DNAs to a common nuclear background, indicate that cytochrome c oxidase (COX) activity, respiration, and growth in galactose are impaired by the m.6267G>A mutation. This mutation, found twice in the cancer cell lines included in this study, has been also encountered in one out of 63 breast cancer samples, one out of 64 colon cancer samples, one out of 260 prostate cancer samples, and in one out of 15 pancreatic cancer cell lines. In all instances the m.6267G>A mutation was associated to different mtDNA haplogroups. These findings, contrast with the extremely low frequency of the m.6267G>A mutation in the normal population (1:2264) and its apparent absence in other pathologies, strongly suggesting that the m.6267G>A missense mutation is a recurrent mutation specifically associated with cancer. Hum Mutat 27(6), 575,582, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Ancient DNA and Family Relationships in a Pompeian House

ANNALS OF HUMAN GENETICS, Issue 4 2009
Giovanni Di Bernardo
Summary Archaeological, anthropological and pathological data suggest that thirteen skeletons found in a house at the Pompeii archaeological site, dated to 79 A.D., belong to one family. To verify this and to identify the relationships between these individuals, we analyzed DNA extracted from bone specimens. Specifically, hypervariable segment 1 (HVS1) of the human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region was amplified in two overlapping polymerase chain reactions and the sequences were compared to the revised Cambridge Reference Sequence. As independent controls, other polymorphic sites in HVS1, HVS2 and in the coding region were analyzed. We also amplified some short tandem repeats of the thirteen specimens. This study revealed that six of the thirteen individuals are indeed closely related. [source]


Analysis of ancient human genomes

BIOESSAYS, Issue 5 2010
000-year-old human from Greenland has been obtained, 20-fold coverage of the genome of a , Using next generation sequencing
Abstract High-capacity sequencing technologies have dramatically reduced both the cost and time required to generate complete human genome sequences. Besides expanding our knowledge about existing diversity, the nature of these technologies makes it possible to extend knowledge in yet another dimension: time. Recently, the complete genome sequence of a 4,000-year-old human from the Saqqaq culture of Greenland was determined to 20-fold coverage. These data make it possible to investigate the population affinities of this enigmatic culture and, by identifying several phenotypic traits of this individual, provide a limited glimpse into how these people may have looked. While undoubtedly a milestone in ancient DNA research, the cost to generate an ancient genome, even from such an exceptionally preserved specimen, remains out of reach for most. Nonetheless, recently developed DNA capture methods, already applied to Neanderthal and fossil human mitochondrial DNA, may soon make large-scale genome-wide analysis of ancient human diversity a reality, providing a fresh look at human population history. [source]


Out of Africa with regional interbreeding?

BIOESSAYS, Issue 10 2002
Modern human origins
A central issue in paleoanthropology is whether modern humans emerged in a single geographic area and subsequently replaced the preexisting people in other areas. Although the study of human mitochondrial DNAs supported this single-origin and complete-replacement model, a recent paper1 argues that humans expanded out of Africa more than once and regionally interbred. However, both the genetic antiquity and the impact of the African contribution to modern Homo sapiens are so great as to view Africa as a central place of human evolution. Despite the possibility that out-of-Africa H. sapiens interbred with other populations, this evidence is more consistent with the uniregional hypothesis than the multiregional hypothesis of modern human origins. BioEssays 24:871,875, 2002. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]