The mitochondrial DNA replication bubble has not burst.
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The discovery that several inherited human diseases are caused by mtDNA depletion has led to an increased interest in the replication and maintenance of mtDNA. We have isolated a new mutant in the lopo (low power) gene from Drosophila melanogaster affecting the mitochondrial single-stranded DNA-binding protein (mtSSB), which is one of the key components in mtDNA replication and maintenance. lopo(1) mutants die late in the third instar before completion of metamorphosis because of a failure in cell proliferation. Molecular, histochemical, and physiological experiments show a drastic decrease in mtDNA content that is coupled with the loss of respiration in these mutants. However, the number and morphology of mitochondria are not greatly affected. Immunocytochemical analysis shows that mtSSB is expressed in all tissues but is highly enriched in proliferating tissues and in the developing oocyte. lopo(1) is the first mtSSB mutant in higher eukaryotes, and its analysis demonstrates the essential function of this gene in development, providing an excellent model to study mitochondrial biogenesis in animals.
Dictyostelium discoideum cells initiate development when nutrients are depleted. DNA synthesis decreases rapidly thereafter but resumes during late aggregation, only in prespore cells. This observation has been previously interpreted as indicating progression of prespore cells through the cell cycle during development. We show that developmental DNA replication occurs only in mitochondria and not in nuclei. We also show that the prestalk morphogen known as differentiation-inducing factor 1 can inhibit mitochondrial respiration. A model is proposed for cell type divergence, based on competition to become prespores, that involves mitochondrial replication in prespore cells and reduction of mitochondrial activity in prestalk cells.
Mitochondria are the semi-autonomous organelles that are responsible for generating the majority of the energy required by mammalian cells under normal conditions. They are only semi-autonomous because the replication, transcription and translation of the DNA molecules within the mitochondrion, mtDNA, are ultimately controlled by the cell nucleus. We present a series of three models of the nuclear control of mtDNA replication, with an increasing complexity in the role of mtDNA mutations in the models. We solve these deterministic models exactly, and compare these solutions to the results of stochastic simulations of the same systems. We use the steady states of the deterministic model to explain behaviors, such as threshold effects and mitochondrial proliferation, that are often seen in the cells of patients affected by mitochondrial diseases and that also occur with age. The parameters of these models illustrate the dual control of mitochondria by both the nuclear and mitochondrial DNA.
Rat liver mitochondria incubated with the metabolites of benzene, p-benzoquinone or 1,2,4-benzenetriol, showed a dose-dependent inhibition of [3H]dTTP incorporation into mtDNA with median inhibitory concentrations of 1 mM for each compound. Benzene and the metabolites phenol, catechol and hydroquinone did not inhibit at concentrations up to 10 mM. Similarly, incubation of p-benzoquinone or hydroquinone with rabbit bone marrow mitochondria showed a dose-dependent inhibition of mtDNA synthesis with 50% inhibition at 1 mM and 10 mM, respectively. That these metabolites inhibit mitochondrial replication was evidenced by the fact that [3H]dTTP incorporation into characteristic 38S, 27S and 7S mitochondrial replication intermediates was decreased by the quinones, as analyzed on 5-20% neutral sucrose velocity gradients. p-Benzoquinone, hydroquinone and 1,2,4-benzenetriol inhibited the activity of partially purified rat liver mtDNA polymerase gamma using either activated calf thymus DNA or poly(rA) X p(dT)12-18 as primer/template, with 50% inhibitory concentrations of 25 microM, 25 microM and 180 microM, respectively. Preincubation of the metabolites with polymerase gamma or primer/template, followed by removal of the unreacted metabolite by gel filtration, indicated that inhibition resulted from interaction of the metabolites with the enzyme, rather than with the template. Binding appeared to involve a sulfhydryl residue on the enzyme since the binding of [14C]hydroquinone was prevented by N-ethylmaleimide. The ability of hydroquinone or p-benzoquinone to inhibit binding of [14C]hydroquinone to the enzyme suggests that the compounds bind to a common site or are converted to a common intermediate. Inhibition of, or changes in, replication in mitochondria of bone marrow cells by hydroquinone and p-benzoquinone may explain the changes in the mitochondrial genome observed in marrow stem cells in acute myelogenous leukemia and may suggest a mechanism for benzene leukemogenesis.
The nuclear gene MIP1 is strictly required for mitochondrial DNA replication and mitochondrial DNA polymerase activity (Genga, A., Bianchi, L., and Foury, F. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 9328-9332). The MIP1 gene was cloned by genetic complementation of the mip1-1 allele after cell transformation with a yeast genomic library and was mapped to the right arm of chromosome XV about 20 centimorgans distal to the cpa1 gene by Southern blot hybridization and tetrad analysis. The mapping of the 5' ends of the MIP1 transcript and the nucleotide sequence analysis of a 4.7-kilobase DNA fragment complementing the mip1-1 allele allowed the determination of an open reading frame of 3762 nucleotides encoding a basic protein of 143.5 kDa. The following data show that the MIP1 gene encodes the catalytic subunit of the replicative mitochondrial DNA polymerase. 1) The mutant ts71 exhibits both a thermosensitive mitochondrial DNA replication in vivo and a thermosensitive mitochondrial DNA polymerase activity is observed, when compared to that of the wild type strain. 3) Chromosomal disruption of the MIP1 gene by an 80% deletion of the gene and its replacement by URA3 gene is not lethal to the cell but elicits total loss of mitochondrial DNA and mitochondrial DNA polymerase activity. 4) The MIP1 protein exhibits sequence similarities with both eukaryotic nuclear DNA polymerases and reverse transcriptases. There is no significant resemblance with prokaryotic DNA polymerases.
Fragments containing the replication-initiation region of mitochondrial (mt) DNA from four species of Paramecium aurelia were ligated to the pBR322 plasmid and used to transform Escherichia coli. The criteria for identifying the desired mitochondrial DNA restriction fragments were based on the palindromic dimer structure of the replicative intermediate of this DNA. The nature of the cloned sequences was verified by hybridization to mitochondrial DNA fragments containing the initiation region, by determining the size of snapback renaturation products, and by determining the symmetry of restriction-endonuclease sites within the clones. Heterologous hybridization experiments showed that one species' initiation region is not homologous to the other three. Cleavage patterns of each of the clones by 18 different restriction enzymes were determined. There are no sites within approx. 250 bp of the center of the insert of any clone although there are numerous cleavages in more distal regions. These sites are generally symmetric about the center of the insert as expected for a palindromic structure. The characteristics of the cloned sequences support a proposed replication model for all four species studied.
The entire mitochondrial genome of Schizosaccharomyces pombe ura4-294h- was analyzed by the 2D pulsed field gel electrophoresis technique developed by Brewer and Fangman. The genome consists of multimers with an average size of 100 kb and analysis of the overlapping restriction fragments of the complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genome resulted in simple Y 2D gel patterns. Large single-stranded DNA molecules or double-stranded DNA molecules containing large or numerous single-stranded regions were found in the S. pombe mtDNA preparation. The replication of mtDNA monomers was found to occur in either direction. On the basis of these results, a replication mechanism for S. pombe mtDNA that is most consistent with a rolling circle model is suggested.
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Mitochondrila DNA (mtDNA) is the only extrachromosomal DNA in humans. It is a small (16.5 kb) genome which encodes 13 essential peptides of the respiratory chain, two rRNAs and 22 tRNAs. Defects of this genome are now recognized as important causes of disease and may take the form of point mutations or rearrangements. There is no effective treatment for patients with mtDNA mutations. In the majority of patients with mtDNA defects, both mutant and wild-type molecules are present in the same cell-a phenomenon known as intracellular heteroplasmy. In addition, in the presence of heteroplasmy there is a threshold whereby a certain level of mutant mtDNA is necessary before the disease becomes biochemically and clinically apparent. Based on the presence of heteroplasmy and the recessive nature of these mutations, we believe it will be possible to treat patients by selectively inhibiting the replication of the mutant mtDNA, thereby allowing propagation of only the wild-type molecule. To confirm the validity of such an approach we synthesised peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) complementary to human mtDNA templates containing a deletion breakpoint or single base mutation, both mutations well documented to cause disease. Using an in vitro replication run-off assay under physiological conditions, the antigenomic PNAs specifically inhibited replication of mutant but not wild-type mtDNA templates. Furthermore, we have shown uptake of these PNAs into cultured human myoblasts. We believe that we have therefore established the potential value of antigenomic PNA therapy for patients with heteroplasmic mtDNA disorders.
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