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D C Wallace

Publications and source records attributed to D C Wallace.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

MITOMAP: a human mitochondrial genome database.

We have developed a comprehensive database (MITOMAP) for the human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), the first component of the human genome to be completely sequenced [Anderson et al. (1981) Nature 290, 457-465]. MITOMAP uses the mtDNA sequence as the unifying element for bringing together information on mitochondrial genome structure and function, pathogenic mutations and their clinical characteristics, population associated variation, and gene- gene interactions. As increasingly larger regions of the human genome are sequenced and characterized, the need for integrating such information will grow. Consequently, MITOMAP not only provides a valuable reference for the mitochondrial biologist, it may also provide a model for the development of information storage and retrieval systems for other components of the human genome.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Novel mitochondrial DNA deletion found in a renal cell carcinoma.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to analyze a rarely deleted region of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 39 human renal cell carcinomas (RCC) and matched normal kidney tissue removed during radical nephrectomy. One tumor specimen (E.R.) had a unique PCR product approximately 250 base pairs (bp) smaller than the PCR product found in the normal E.R. kidney. Sequence analysis of the tumor-specific PCR fragment revealed a 264 bp deletion in the first subunit (NDI) of NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I) of the electron transport chain. Southern analysis of the RCCs demonstrated that approximately 50% of the mtDNA molecules in the primary RCC contained a unique 3.2 kb EcoRV restriction fragment found only in E.R. tumor mtDNA. Northern analysis demonstrated preferential transcription of the truncated NDI mRNA. None of the five metastases or any normal tissue from E.R. contained levels of the NDI deletion detectable by PCR. This is the first reported case of an intragenic NDI mtDNA deletion.

Base Sequence↗

Genetic epidemiologic methods to screen for matrilineal inheritance in mitochondrial disorders.

We propose a method to screen for the matrilineal inheritance in mitochondrial disorders by comparing the risk of disease in a person whose mother is affected or whose maternal grandmother or aunt or uncle is affected to the risk of disease in a person whose father is affected or whose paternal grandmother or aunt or uncle is affected using a modification of the reconstructed cohort design. Sampling of pedigrees is accomplished via probands and must not be influenced by family history. The cohort of the proband's offspring, and offspring of the proband's siblings, can be analyzed using survival analysis. Cox proportional hazards model, Bonney's [(1986) Biometrics 42:611-625] model, and Liang's [(1991) Genet Epidemiol 8:329-338] model. Mitochondrial transmission can be distinguished from X-linked transmission by examining sex-specific patterns of disease expression in matrilineally transmitted diseases. To illustrate our epidemiologic method, we apply our screening method to pedigrees of two disorders which have been proposed to have a mitochondrial DNA component to their inheritance.

Bipolar Disorder↗

Fast capillary electrophoresis-laser induced fluorescence analysis of ligase chain reaction products: human mitochondrial DNA point mutations causing Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy.

High speed capillary electrophoresis-laser-induced fluorescence (CE-LIF) has been used to separate and detect point mutations using the ligase chain reaction (LCR). The method utilizes short capillary columns (7.5 cm effective length) and fields of 400 V/cm to analyze DNA-ethidium bromide complexes using an He/Ne laser. The method was first demonstrated with a commercially available kit for LCR based on a lacI gene fragment inserted in a Bluescript II phagemid. LCR-CE-LIF was then applied to detect point mutations in human mitochondrial DNA, resulting in Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). Three severe mutations were analyzed in which the original base is substituted by a thymidine base at positions 3460, 11778 and 14459. Appropriate primers were designed with polyT tails for length discrimination of pooled samples. Successful detection of mutated samples was achieved, with appropriate correction for small amounts of nonspecific ligated product. The method is rapid, easy to implement, and automatable.

Base Sequence↗

Production of transmitochondrial mouse cell lines by cybrid rescue of rhodamine-6G pre-treated L-cells.

Treatment of mouse LMTK- cells with the toxic mitochondrial dye rhodamine 6G (R-6G) at 2.5 micrograms/ml for 7 days prevented cell growth while maintaining viability, with less than 10(-6) cells recovering to form colonies. Pre-treatment of LMTK- cells with R-6G was followed by fusion with enucleated mouse 501-1 cells harboring a homoplasmic point mutation in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) 16S rRNA gene conferring chloramphenicol resistance (CAPR). Cybrids and any surviving unfused LMTK- cells were selected in BrdU with or without CAP and their mtDNAs screened for the presence of the CAPR marker. Approximately 1 colony per 2 x 10(5) LMTK- cells appeared in the fusion plates selected both with and without CAP. Most clones investigated were confirmed to be cybrids by showing the presence of the generally homoplasmic CAPR mutation, whether or not CAP selection was used. Hence, R-6G pre-treatment permits construction of transmitochondrial cybrid cell lines carrying a variety of mtDNAs, without the need for rho 0 cell lines.

Animals↗

Classification of European mtDNAs from an analysis of three European populations.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence variation was examined in Finns, Swedes and Tuscans by PCR amplification and restriction analysis. About 99% of the mtDNAs were subsumed within 10 mtDNA haplogroups (H, I, J, K, M, T, U, V, W, and X) suggesting that the identified haplogroups could encompass virtually all European mtDNAs. Because both hypervariable segments of the mtDNA control region were previously sequenced in the Tuscan samples, the mtDNA haplogroups and control region sequences could be compared. Using a combination of haplogroup-specific restriction site changes and control region nucleotide substitutions, the distribution of the haplogroups was surveyed through the published restriction site polymorphism and control region sequence data of Caucasoids. This supported the conclusion that most haplogroups observed in Europe are Caucasoid-specific, and that at least some of them occur at varying frequencies in different Caucasoid populations. The classification of almost all European mtDNA variation in a number of well defined haplogroups could provide additional insights about the origin and relationships of Caucasoid populations and the process of human colonization of Europe, and is valuable for the definition of the role played by mtDNA backgrounds in the expression of pathological mtDNA mutations.

Base Sequence↗

Community-based service use among the young, middle, and old old.

The study purpose was to determine differences in number, type, and predictors of community-based service use among elders in three age groups. Existing data from a regional Area Agency on Aging were used and the sample (n = 2,474) included vulnerable elders, men, African Americans, low income, and rural residents. Services most frequently used were case management, congregate meal, home-delivered meal, outreach, and recreation. Differences existed among the young, middle, and old old age groups in the number and types of services used. Race, residence, transportation capability, payment source, and function were the most frequent predictors of use.

Age Factors↗

Use of transmitochondrial cybrids to assign a complex I defect to the mitochondrial DNA-encoded NADH dehydrogenase subunit 6 gene mutation at nucleotide pair 14459 that causes Leber hereditary optic neuropathy and dystonia.

A heteroplasmic G-to-A transition at nucleotide pair (np) 14459 within the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)-encoded NADH dehydrogenase subunit 6 (ND6) gene has been identified as the cause of Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) and/or pediatric-onset dystonia in three unrelated families. This ND6 np 14459 mutation changes a moderately conserved alanine to a valine at amino acid position 72 of the ND6 protein. Enzymologic analysis of mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase (complex I) with submitochondrial particles isolated from Epstein-Barr virus-transformed lymphoblasts revealed a 60% reduction (P < 0.005) of complex I-specific activity in patient cell lines compared with controls, with no differences in enzymatic activity for complexes II plus III, III and IV. This biochemical defect was assigned to the ND6 np 14459 mutation by using transmitochondrial cybrids in which patient Epstein-Barr virus-transformed lymphoblast cell lines were enucleated and the cytoplasts were fused to a mtDNA-deficient (p 0) lymphoblastoid recipient cell line. Cybrids harboring the np 14459 mutation exhibited a 39% reduction (p < 0.02) in complex I-specific activity relative to wild-type cybrid lines but normal activity for the other complexes. Kinetic analysis of the np 14459 mutant complex I revealed that the Vmax of the enzyme was reduced while the Km remained the same as that of wild type. Furthermore, specific activity was inhibited by increasing concentrations of the reduced coenzyme Q analog decylubiquinol. These observations suggest that the np 14459 mutation may alter the coenzyme Q-binding site of complex I.

Cell Line, Transformed↗

Marked increase in the number and variety of mitochondrial DNA rearrangements in aging human skeletal muscle.

Several reports have shown that individual mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletions accumulate with age. However, the overall extent of somatic mtDNA damage with age remains unclear. We have utilized full-length PCR to concurrently screen for multiple mtDNA rearrangements in total DNA extracted from skeletal muscle derived from physiologically normal individuals (n = 35). This revealed that both the number and variety of mtDNA rearrangements increases dramatically between young and old individuals (P < 0.0001). We further examined the mtDNA from both the younger and older subjects by Southern blot analysis and observed an age-related increase in mtDNA(s) comparable in size to mtDNA products unique to patients with known mtDNA deletions. These data imply that a wide spectrum of mtDNA rearrangements accumulate in old individuals, which correlates with the marked age related decrease in OXPHOS capacity observed in post-mitotic tissues.

Adult↗

Mitochondrial DNA mutations in human degenerative diseases and aging.

A wide variety of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations have recently been identified in degenerative diseases of the brain, heart, skeletal muscle, kidney and endocrine system. Generally, individuals inheriting these mitochondrial diseases are relatively normal in early life, develop symptoms during childhood, mid-life, or old age depending on the severity of the maternally-inherited mtDNA mutation; and then undergo a progressive decline. These novel features of mtDNA disease are proposed to be the product of the high dependence of the target organs on mitochondrial bioenergetics, and the cumulative oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) defect caused by the inherited mtDNA mutation together with the age-related accumulation mtDNA mutations in post-mitotic tissues.

Adult↗

Apolipoprotein E genotype in patients with Alzheimer's disease: implications for the risk of dementia among relatives.

Numerous studies have shown that the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with the dose of the epsilon 4 allele of apolipoprotein E (ApoE). However, more than one third of AD patients lack epsilon 4 and many persons having epsilon 4 survive cognitively intact to old age. We evaluated the lifetime risk of disease in 3,999 first-degree relatives of 549 probands who met the criteria for probable or definite AD and whose ApoE genotypes were known. ApoE genotypes for relatives were not determined. After age 65 the risk among relatives was proportional, as much as 7 to 10% at age 85, to the number of epsilon 4 alleles present in the proband. Risks to relatives of ApoE 2/2 and 2/3 probands were nearly identical at all ages to risks for relatives of ApoE 3/3 probands. The expected proportion of relatives having at least one epsilon 4 allele was calculated for each genotype group based on the distribution of parents, sibs, and offspring in the sample. Among relatives in the ApoE 3/3 group, the lifetime risk for AD by age 90 was three times greater than the expected proportion of epsilon 4 carriers, suggesting that factors other than ApoE contribute to AD susceptibility. Furthermore, the 44% risk of AD by age 93 among relatives of ApoE 4/4 probands indicates that as many as 50% of people having at least one epsilon 4 allele do not develop AD. We also found that among male relatives, risk of AD in the ApoE 3/4 group was similar to that for the ApoE 3/3 group but significantly less than the risk for the ApoE 4/4 group. In contrast, among female relatives the risk for the ApoE 3/4 group was nearly twice that for the ApoE 3/3 group and identical to the risk for the ApoE 4/4 group. These findings are consistent with a sex-modification effect of the E4 isoform on disease susceptibility.

Age of Onset↗

African, Native American, and European mitochondrial DNAs in Cubans from Pinar del Rio Province and implications for the recent epidemic neuropathy in Cuba. Cuba Neuropathy Field Investigation Team.

Genetic predisposition, particularly specific mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) backgrounds, has been proposed as a contributing factor in the expression of an epidemic of bilateral optic neuropathy that has affected residents of Cuba since 1991. To substantiate or refute the possibility that specific subsets of mtDNAs could participate in disease expression, we took advantage of the heterogeneous ethnic origin of the Cuban population and the recent identification of a number of mtDNA polymorphisms that appear to be specific for Africans, Native Americans, and Europeans. The screening of both carefully selected people with epidemic neuropathy and control subjects from the Pinar del Rio Province for these polymorphisms revealed that African, Native American, and European mtDNA haplotypes were equally represented among case and control subjects, and suggested that approximately 50% of Cuban mtDNAs originated from Europeans, 46% from Africans, and 4% from Native Americans. These findings demonstrate that mutations arising in specific mtDNAs are unlikely to play a role in the epidemic neuropathy and indicate that analysis of mtDNA haplotypes can be a valuable tool for assessing the relative maternal contribution of Africans, Native Americans, and Europeans in a mixed population.

Africa↗

Phylogenetic analysis of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy mitochondrial DNA's indicates multiple independent occurrences of the common mutations.

The mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNA) from 17 Caucasian 11778-positive and 30 Caucasian 11778-negative Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) patients were PCR-amplified and subjected to high resolution restriction endonuclease analysis. Concurrently, all patient mtDNAs were screened for the common primary LHON mtDNA mutations at nucleotide pairs (nps) 3460, 11778, and 14484, the ambiguous intermediate-risk LHON mtDNA mutations at nps 5244 and 15257, and the secondary LHON mtDNA mutations at nps 3394, 4216, 4917, 7444, 13708, and 15812. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using mtDNA haplotype data from the 47 LHON patients and 175 non-LHON Caucasian controls. The superimposition of the LHON mutation screening results upon the Caucasian mtDNA phylogeny revealed (1) 35 different LHON haplotypes, (2) that all three common primary mutations have occurred multiple times in Caucasians, (3) that while recurrent mutation is common for the primary mutations, secondary mutations tend to be lineage-specific, (4) that the np 15257 mutation was confined to a single mtDNA lineage but may be etiologically important in some LHON cases since it was found in a LHON pedigree which lacked a common primary mutation; complete sequence analysis of the proband mtDNA revealed only a single other candidate missense mutation (at np 10663 of the ND4L gene) of uncertain pathological significance; and (5) that the np 14484 mutation may be less pathogenic than either the np 3460 or np 11778 mutations, as this mutation most commonly occurred on a single mtDNA lineage and almost always in association with secondary LHON mutations. A phylogenetic approach to this genetically heterogeneous disease has thus provided key genetic data bearing on the relative pathogenicity of the LHON-associated mtDNA mutations.

DNA, Mitochondrial↗

Service use by elders with heart disease.

The study purpose was to determine the impact of demographic, social, environmental, and health indicators on utilization of health services among elders with heart disease. Existing data from a regional Area Agency on Aging were used and the sample (N = 1,167) included vulnerable groups, men, blacks, low income, and rural residents. Services most frequently used were case management, congregate meal, home delivered meal, outreach, and recreation. Multiple linear and logistic regression indicated that race, marital status, living arrangements, payment source, residence, transportation capability, health conditions, sensory impairment, and function were predictors of service use.

Age Factors↗

Renal amino acid transport in adults with oxidative phosphorylation diseases.

The clinical manifestations of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations depend on a variety of factors including ratios of normal to abnormal mtDNA and tissue-specific differences in ATP production by oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). In order to investigate the effects of OXPHOS defects on renal tubule function, we characterized sodium-coupled transport processes in six individuals with OXPHOS diseases. Pathogenic mtDNA mutations were identified in five of these individuals. Sodium coupled transport processes were evaluated by determining fractional excretions of amino acids, glucose, lactate, urate, and phosphate in patients and controls. Four of the six individuals had high fractional excretions of neutral amino acids, indicating abnormal renal tubule reabsorbtion of these amino acids. Abnormalities in fractional excretions of lactate, glucose, urate, and phosphate were less pronounced. These results demonstrate that sodium-coupled transport processes in the kidney are sensitive to OXPHOS impairment. When abnormalities in these processes are encountered, an OXPHOS disease should be included in the differential diagnosis.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗