Mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA
A Story of Mothers and a Tale of Energy



 


Mitochondria are membrane-bound organelles present in the cytoplasm of all eukaryotic cells. They produce energy currency (ATP) inside the cells to perform work. It also contains a genome that ties you to your mother and her mom. We inherit half of our DNA from our mother and the other half from our father. This DNA is chromosomal DNA found inside the nucleus of cells. 

Outside the nucleus, mitochondria contain circular DNA which is passed down uniquely from the mother to her children regardless of their sex. The mitochondrial genome encodes several proteins required for energy production. Mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), can compromise the production of energy inside the cell and leads to several pathological conditions like common neurological diseases. Impairment of mtDNA packaging leads to stress that releases mtDNA to the cytoplasm. This cytosolic mtDNA is a sensor to activate a plethora of immune responses.

Scope of basic and translational research-

Both basic and translational research on mitochondrial biogenesis as well as its genomic organization are emerging areas for the prognosis of several neuronal diseases as well as cancer.

Researchers at the International Institute of Innovation and Technology (I3T) Kolkata, focus on the mitochondrial genomic organization in the model organism trypanosomes. Trypanosomes are unicellular parasites that contain a single mitochondrion. Trypanosome is a good model for the study of mitochondrial DNA replication, gene regulation, and as well as respiration. In trypanosome mitochondrial DNA contains two types of circular DNA.

This model organism is a good platform for mitochondrial dysfunction, mitochondrial fission as well as mitophagy. The higher eukaryotic cell contains thousands of mitochondria. Studying mutations associated with mitochondrial disorders remains a challenge due to phenotypic variability and genetic heterogeneity among individuals. Mitochondrial sequencing with next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology addresses these challenges, enabling comprehensive detection and analysis of mitochondrial disease-associated variants.

The I3T research team is very much interested to conduct genomic analysis of mitochondrial disease-associated variants using its in-house Ion Torrent™ next-generation sequencing facilities. These studies will help us to detect mitochondrial dysfunction among the cohort of patient samples.


The author was a former postdoctoral fellow at Hebrew University Jerusalem (HUJI), Israel, and State University of New York (SUNY) in Buffalo, USA. His major field of interest is mitochondrial DNA replication and RNA editing of mitochondrial mRNA.


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