title: Mitochondrial disorders. A diagnostic challenge in clinical chemistry.
abstract: Mitochondria play a pivotal role in cellular metabolism and in energy production in particular. Defects in structure or function of mitochondria, mainly involving the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), mitochondrial biogenesis and other metabolic pathways, have been shown to be associated with a wide spectrum of clinical phenotypes. The ubiquitous nature of mitochondria and their unique genetic features contribute to the clinical, biochemical and genetic heterogeneity of mitochondrial diseases. We will focus on the recent advances in the field of mitochondrial disorders and their consequences for an advanced clinical and genetic diagnostics. In addition, an overview on recently identified genetic defects and their pathogenic molecular mechanisms will be given.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Chemistry, Molecular Diagnostics and Mitochondrial Genetics, Diabetes Research Group, Academic Hospital Munich-Schwabing, Germany. bauer@bio.med.uni-muenchen.de
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gempel
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hofmann
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jaksch
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Philbrook
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Gerbitz
mesh_terms: D002624:Chemistry, Clinical / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D017240:Mitochondrial Myopathies / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008954:Models, Biological