Yutthana Joyjinda. The role of mitochondrial background in the expression of leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). Master's Degree(Biochemistry). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2007.
The role of mitochondrial background in the expression of leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON)
Abstract:
Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is a mitochondrial genetic disease
characterized by acute or subacute bilateral painless loss of central vision caused by
retinal ganglion cell degeneration leading to optic nerve atrophy, predominant in
young males. Over 95% of LHON cases are primarily the result of one of three
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) point mutations, G3460A, G11778A and T14484C,
which affect ND genes coding for subunits of complex I of oxidative phosphorylation
(OXPHOS). An intriguing feature of LHON is that some individuals who habour a
pathogenic mtDNA mutation may not develop the optic neuropathy. This marked
incomplete penetrance implies that additional modifier factors such as mitochondrial
genetic background, nuclear genetic background and/or environmental factors must
influence the phenotypic expression of LHON. In order to search for the candidate
SNPs in the mitochondrial background that might influence the expression of LHONassociated
G11778A mutation, the whole mitochondrial genome sequences of 43
LHON patients were compared with 50 normal controls. Twenty four variants were
found solely in LHON patients and have not been reported in the public domain. Of
these 24 novel variants, 6 variants in coding regions (A862G in 12s rRNA, G14721A
in tRNAGlu, A3995G: N203S in ND gene, T8978C: T196A in ATPase 6, C9175A:
L217M in ATPase 6 and T14457C: M73V in ND6) showed high nucleotide
conservation in RNA and amino acid conservation among mammalian and non
mammalian species, respectively. The other 3 polymorphisms in the whole
mitochondrial genome (G2361A in 12s rRNA, T15908C in tRNAThr and C8707T:
H61Y in ATPase 6) also showed high nucleotide conservation in RNA and amino acid
conservation among 61 mammalian species, respectively. Five mitochondrial
haplogroups (B, B*, M, F and C) were identified in this study. No statistically
significant difference in mtDNA haplogroups was found between LHON patients and
normal controls except for haplogroup B* and F which showed statistically significant
difference (p<0.05) between two group.