Differences in the accumulation of mitochondrial defects with age in mice and humans.
Mitochondrial DNA mutations and associated defects in cytochrome c oxidase (COX) are proposed to play an important role in human ageing; however there have been limited studies on the frequency of these defects in normal mouse ageing. Here we compare COX-deficiency in two epithelial tissues; the colon and the ciliary epithelium, from human and mouse. The pattern of accumulation of COX-deficiency is similar in both tissues in the two species; however the frequency of colonic crypts with COX-deficiency in aged humans is significantly higher than in aged mice, whereas the levels of COX-deficiency in the ciliary epithelium are higher in the mouse than in humans. This suggests the impact of mitochondrial defects on normal ageing may differ significantly between species.
Mitochondrial Research Group, Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK. laura.greaves@ncl.ac.uk
Laura C
LC
Greaves
Martin J
MJ
Barron
George
G
Campbell-Shiel
Thomas B L
TB
Kirkwood
Douglass M
DM
Turnbull
D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D003106:Colon / Q000201:enzymology; D030401:Cytochrome-c Oxidase Deficiency / Q000235:genetics*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009154:Mutation; D010857:Pigment Epithelium of Eye / Q000201:enzymology; D013045:Species Specificity
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial