Mitochondrial DNA 4977 bp deletion is a common phenomenon in hair and increases with age

Authors

  • Yijie Zheng Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University
  • Xiaofeng Luo Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University
  • Junfeng Zhu Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University
  • Xuan Zhang Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University
  • Yinting Zhu Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University
  • Huihua Cheng Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University
  • Zhiqiu Xia Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University
  • Na Su Department of Forensic Medicine, Tianhe District of Guangzhou Police Bureau
  • Nengpei Zhang Department of Forensic Medicine, Dongguan Police Bureau
  • Junyi Zhou Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17305/bjbms.2012.2480

Keywords:

mtDNA 4977bp deletion, hair, ageing, mtDNA mutation

Abstract

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is believed to be particularly susceptible to oxidative damage during aging, resulting in mtDNA point mutations, duplications, and deletions. Although mtDNA deletions have been reported in various human tissues, e.g., the brain, heart, and skeletal muscle, little is known about the occurrence in hair. Therefore, we screened for the presence of mtDNA 13162 bp, 10422 bp, 7663 bp, 7436 bp, 4989 bp, and 4977 bp deletions in 90 hair samples from subjects aged 5 days to 91 years by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and investigated the deletion load by TaqMan probe-based real-time PCR.

We detected the mtDNA 4977 bp deletion in hair samples, but none of the other deletions that were screened for. The proportion of mtDNA 4977 deletion carriers was 98.3% (89/90) and the deletion loads increased from 0 to 1.436 ± 0.2086% of the total mtDNA with an exponential increase with age (r = 0.677,p < 0.05). These results suggest that mtDNA 4977 bp deletion is a common phenomenon in hair and increases with age. These findings expand our understanding of the tissue-specific distribution of mtDNA deletions.

Mitochondrial DNA 4977 bp deletion is a common phenomenon in hair and increases with age

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Published

20-08-2012

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Molecular Biology

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How to Cite

1.
Mitochondrial DNA 4977 bp deletion is a common phenomenon in hair and increases with age. Biomol Biomed [Internet]. 2012 Aug. 20 [cited 2024 Mar. 29];12(3):187-92. Available from: https://www.bjbms.org/ojs/index.php/bjbms/article/view/2480