Cited by 133Mitochondrial Function and PathologyMetabolism and Genetic DisordersGenomics and Rare Diseases

Mitochondrial disease in adults: what's old and what's new?

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Chinnery, Patrick F·2015·EMBO Molecular Medicine

Abstract

Ten years ago, there was an emerging view that the molecular basis for adult mitochondrial disorders was largely known and that the clinical phenotypes had been well described. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The establishment of large cohorts of patients has revealed new aspects of the clinical presentation that were not previously appreciated. Over time, this approach is starting to provide an accurate understanding of the natural history of mitochondrial disease in adults. Advances in molecular diagnostics, underpinned by next generation sequencing technology, have identified novel molecular mechanisms. Recently described mitochondrial disease phenotypes have disparate causes, and yet share common mechanistic themes. In particular, disorders of mtDNA maintenance have emerged as a major cause of mitochondrial disease in adults. Progressive mtDNA depletion and the accumulation of mtDNA mutations explain some of the clinical features, but the genetic and cellular processes responsible for the mtDNA abnormalities are not entirely clear in each instance. Unfortunately, apart from a few specific examples, treatments for adult mitochondrial disease have not been forthcoming. However, the establishment of international consortia, and the first multinational randomised controlled trial, have paved the way for major progress in the near future, underpinned by growing interest from the pharmaceutical industry. Adult mitochondrial medicine is, therefore, in its infancy, and the challenge is to harness the new understanding of its molecular and cellular basis to develop treatments of real benefit to patients.

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  • Mitochondrial dysfunction can severely impair cellular energy conversion, especially in tissues that depend heavily on mitochondrial chemical energy throughout life.

    “Mitochondrial dysfunction can lead to severe impairment of cellular energy conversion, especially in tissues that rely heavily on chemical energy generated by mitochondria throughout life9.”

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Authors
Chinnery, P. F.
Affiliations
University of Cambridge (GB)
Corresponding author
Chinnery, Patrick F
Venue
EMBO Molecular Medicine
Published
2015-11-26
Volume
7
Issue
12
Pages
1503-1512
ISSN
  • 1757-4676 (ISSN-L)
  • 1757-4684
OpenAlex
W2255476726
Cited by
133
References
84
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 9
FWCI
1.41
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • EMBO Molecular Medicine (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow in Clinical Science (101876/Z/13/Z)
  • UK NIHR Senior Investigator
  • Medical Research Council
  • Mitochondrial Biology Unit (MC_UP_1501/2)
  • Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research (096919Z/11/Z)
  • Medical Research Council (UK) Centre for Translational Muscle Disease Research (G0601943)
  • EU FP7 TIRCON
  • National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre based at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • University of Cambridge
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Mitochondrial Function and Pathology
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Clinical Biochemistry › Metabolism and Genetic Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genomics and Rare Diseases
Keywords
mtDNA depletion, mitochondrial DNA mutations, clinical phenotype, natural history (disease), molecular diagnosis, next-generation sequencing, mitochondrial disease therapy, mitochondrial medicine
MeSH terms
Mutation Accumulation, Adult, DNA, Mitochondrial, Humans, Biomarkers, Mitochondrial Diseases, Pathology, Molecular

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