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- Title
Mitochondrial point mutations do not limit the natural lifespan of mice.
- Authors
Vermulst, Marc; Bielas, Jason H; Kujoth, Gregory C; Ladiges, Warren C; Rabinovitch, Peter S; Prolla, Tomas A; Loeb, Lawrence A
- Abstract
Whether mitochondrial mutations cause mammalian aging, or are merely correlated with it, is an area of intense debate. Here, we use a new, highly sensitive assay to redefine the relationship between mitochondrial mutations and age. We measured the in vivo rate of change of the mitochondrial genome at a single-base pair level in mice, and we demonstrate that the mutation frequency in mouse mitochondria is more than ten times lower than previously reported. Although we observed an 11-fold increase in mitochondrial point mutations with age, we report that a mitochondrial mutator mouse was able to sustain a 500-fold higher mutation burden than normal mice, without any obvious features of rapidly accelerated aging. Thus, our results strongly indicate that mitochondrial mutations do not limit the lifespan of wild-type mice.
- Publication
Nature genetics, 2007, Vol 39, Issue 4, p540
- ISSN
1061-4036
- Publication type
Journal Article
- DOI
10.1038/ng1988