The altered activity of complex III may contribute to the high penetrance of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy in a Chinese family carrying the ND4 G11778A mutation

The ND4 G11778A mutation is the most common mitochondrial DNA mutation leading to Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). Despite considerable clinical evidences, the modifier role of nuclear background and mitochondrial haplotypes in phenotypic manifestation of LHON remains poorly understood. We investigated the effect of these modifiers on bioenergetics in lymphoblastoid cell lines derived from five affected subjects of one Chinese family carrying the G11778A mutation and five Chinese controls. Significant reductions in the activities of complexes I and III were observed in mutant cell lines from the Chinese family, whereas the mutant cell lines from other families carrying the same mutation exhibited only reduced activity of complex I. The reduced activities of complexes I and III caused remarkably higher reductions of ATP synthesis in mutant cell lines from the Chinese family than those from other families. The deficient respiration increased generation of reactive oxygen species. The defect in complex III activity, likely resulting from the mitochondrial haplotype or nuclear gene alteration, worsens mitochondrial dysfunction caused by the G11778A mutation, thereby causing extremely high penetrance and expressivity of optic neuropathy in this Chinese family. Our data provide the first experimental evidence that altered activity of complex III modulates the phenotypic manifestation of LHON-associated G11778A mutation. Thus, our findings may provide new insights into the pathophysiology of LHON.     

产胞外青霉素酰化酶菌株的选育

以短小杆菌（B．pumilus）B－97为出发菌株,经过连续两次紫外线诱变处理,分离得一突变株B－U－29。其酶活力为4．56U／ml,较出发菌株酶活力提高113．3％。对B－U－29菌株进行连续两次亚硝酸处理,分离得一正变稳定株B—H－29,酶活力为4．93u／ml,较出发菌株酶活力提高了20％。