Defects in the mitochondrial respiratory complexes cause a number of metabolic diseases and are believed to play pivotal roles in the pathogenesis of age-related neurodegenerative disorders. Our laboratory's long term goal is to understand the biology of these conditions and develop effective treatments. To achieve these goals we have developed mouse models with defects in different mitochondrial respiratory complexes. We now propose to study the pathogenic mechanisms associated with defects in specific mitochondrial respiratory complexes (complexes I, III or IV). Our preliminary data showed some remarkable differences in the phenotypes depending on the complex affected. The identification of metabolic signatures of brains affected by the different defects will be used to better understand the pathogenic mechanisms. Finally, based on the information gathered in the first two aims, we will test whether increases in mitochondrial biogenesis and lipid utilization can have a protective effect for certain mitochondrial encephalopathies.

Public Health Relevance

Defects in mitochondrial respiratory complexes have been associated with many metabolic diseases. There is a great deal of variation in the clinical manifestations of these defects, but the reason for this is not known. We propose to study mouse models with defects in the respiratory complexes I, III and IV to better define the mechanisms responsible for the different clinical presentations. We will define metabolic signatures of deficient brains and use this information to fine tune therapeutic approaches based on an increase in mitochondrial biogenesis.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01NS079965-03
Application #
8606272
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1)
Program Officer
Gwinn, Katrina
Project Start
2012-05-15
Project End
2017-01-31
Budget Start
2014-02-01
Budget End
2015-01-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2014
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Miami School of Medicine
Department
Neurology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
City
Coral Gables
State
FL
Country
United States
Zip Code
33146
Nissanka, Nadee; Moraes, Carlos T (2018) Mitochondrial DNA damage and reactive oxygen species in neurodegenerative disease. FEBS Lett 592:728-742
Pinto, Milena; Nissanka, Nadee; Moraes, Carlos T (2018) Lack of Parkin Anticipates the Phenotype and Affects Mitochondrial Morphology and mtDNA Levels in a Mouse Model of Parkinson's Disease. J Neurosci 38:1042-1053
Pinto, Milena; Vempati, Uma D; Diaz, Francisca et al. (2018) Ablation of Cytochrome c in Adult Forebrain Neurons Impairs Oxidative Phosphorylation Without Detectable Apoptosis. Mol Neurobiol :
Pereira, Claudia V; Bacman, Sandra R; Arguello, Tania et al. (2018) mitoTev-TALE: a monomeric DNA editing enzyme to reduce mutant mitochondrial DNA levels. EMBO Mol Med 10:
Peralta, Susana; Goffart, Steffi; Williams, Sion L et al. (2018) ATAD3 controls mitochondrial cristae structure in mouse muscle, influencing mtDNA replication and cholesterol levels. J Cell Sci 131:
Garcia, Sofia; Nissanka, Nadee; Mareco, Edson A et al. (2018) Overexpression of PGC-1? in aging muscle enhances a subset of young-like molecular patterns. Aging Cell 17:
Arguello, Tania; Köhrer, Caroline; RajBhandary, Uttam L et al. (2018) Mitochondrial methionyl N-formylation affects steady-state levels of oxidative phosphorylation complexes and their organization into supercomplexes. J Biol Chem 293:15021-15032
Madsen, Pernille M; Pinto, Milena; Patel, Shreyans et al. (2017) Mitochondrial DNA Double-Strand Breaks in Oligodendrocytes Cause Demyelination, Axonal Injury, and CNS Inflammation. J Neurosci 37:10185-10199
Pinto, Milena; Pickrell, Alicia M; Wang, Xiao et al. (2017) Transient mitochondrial DNA double strand breaks in mice cause accelerated aging phenotypes in a ROS-dependent but p53/p21-independent manner. Cell Death Differ 24:288-299
Tengan, Celia H; Moraes, Carlos T (2017) NO control of mitochondrial function in normal and transformed cells. Biochim Biophys Acta Bioenerg 1858:573-581

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