title: Golden mean to longevity: rareness of mitochondrial cytochrome b variants in centenarians but not in patients with Parkinson's disease.
abstract: To test the hypothesis that centenarians are free from deleterious mitochondrial variations, we analyzed amino acid variations in the cytochrome b molecule of 64 Japanese centenarians. Although the frequencies of some variations, such as N260D and G251S, differed significantly between centenarians and patients with Parkinson's disease, the most striking feature of centenarian cytochrome b was the rareness of amino acid variations in contrast to the variety of amino acid replacements in patients with Parkinson's disease. These results suggest that centenarians are genetically hitting the "golden mean" (less variation from the consensus cytochrome b sequence or less mismatch with other subunits). A multiplex detection system for various deleterious variations in combination with genetic tests for longevity-associated genotypes will be necessary to predict longevity or age-related diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gene Therapy, Gifu International Institute of Biotechnology, Mitake, Gifu, Japan. mtanaka@giib.or.jp
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Noriyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fuku
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takeyasu
authors.forename: Li-Jun
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Raita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hirose
authors.forename: Miyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurata
authors.forename: Harm-Jan W
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Borgeld
authors.forename: Yoshiji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Wakako
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Yasumichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Nobuyoshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hirose
authors.forename: Yoshiharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oshida
authors.forename: Yuzo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Nobutaka
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: Yoshikuni
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mizuno
authors.forename: So
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iwata
authors.forename: Kunio
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yagi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over / Q000502:physiology*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence / Q000235:genetics; D003573:Cytochrome b Group / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000235:genetics; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000235:genetics; D005820:Genetic Testing; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D009765:Obesity / Q000235:genetics; D010085:Oxidative Phosphorylation; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000235:genetics; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D017354:Point Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D003573:Cytochrome b Group; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial