Disease-related versus polymorphic mutations in human mitochondrial tRNAs. Where is the difference?
A number of point mutations in human mitochondrial (mt) tRNA genes are correlated with a variety of neuromuscular and other severe disorders including encephalopathies, myopathies, cardiopathies and diabetes. The complexity of the genotype/phenotype relationships, the diversity of possible molecular impacts of the different mutations at the tRNA structure/function levels, and the exponential discovery of new mutations call for the search for unifying features. Here, the basic features (at the levels of primary and secondary structure) of 68 'pathogenic' mutations are compared with those of 64 'polymorphic' neutral mutations, revealing that these standard parameters for mutant analysis are not sufficient to predict the pathogenicity of mt tRNA mutations. Thus, case by case molecular investigation remains the only means of assessing the growing family of pathogenic mutations in mt tRNAs. New lines of research are suggested.
Florentz
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C
UPR 9002 du CNRS, Département Mécanismes et Macromolécules de la Synthèse Protéique et Cristallogenèse, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, 15 rue René Descartes, F-67084 Strasbourg Cedex, France. C.Florentz@ibmc.u-strasbg.fr
Sissler
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M
D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010641:Phenotype; D017354:Point Mutation; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics*; D000077278:RNA, Mitochondrial; D012343:RNA, Transfer / Q000378:metabolism; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
D000077278:RNA, Mitochondrial; D012313:RNA; D012343:RNA, Transfer