Mitochondrial DNA Integrity: Role in Health and Disease

Overview

Journal Cells

Publisher MDPI

Specialties Biochemistry
Biophysics
Cell Biology
Molecular Biology

Date 2019 Feb 1

PMID 30700008

Citations 107

Authors

Priyanka Sharma

Harini Sampath

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

As the primary cellular location for respiration and energy production, mitochondria serve in a critical capacity to the cell. Yet, by virtue of this very function of respiration, mitochondria are subject to constant oxidative stress that can damage one of the unique features of this organelle, its distinct genome. Damage to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and loss of mitochondrial genome integrity is increasingly understood to play a role in the development of both severe early-onset maladies and chronic age-related diseases. In this article, we review the processes by which mtDNA integrity is maintained, with an emphasis on the repair of oxidative DNA lesions, and the cellular consequences of diminished mitochondrial genome stability.

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