A Natural mtDNA Polymorphism in Complex III Is a Modifier of Healthspan in Mice

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 20; no. 9; p. 2359
• Main Authors: Hirose, Misa, Künstner, Axel, Schilf, Paul, Tietjen, Anna Katharina, Jöhren, Olaf, Huebbe, Patricia, Rimbach, Gerald, Rupp, Jan, Schwaninger, Markus, Busch, Hauke, Ibrahim, Saleh M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 13.05.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Adenosine triphosphate; age-related diseases; Aging; Aging (natural); ATP; complex III; Composition; conplastic mouse strains; Diet; Differentiation (biology); Enzymes; Genes; gut microbiota; healthspan; Inflammatory diseases; Intestinal microflora; Life span; Lymphocytes; Metabolic disorders; Microbiota; Middle age; middle-aged obesity; Mitochondria; Mitochondrial DNA; mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms; mitochondrially encoded cytochrome b gene; mt-Cytb; Mutation; Next-generation sequencing; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Obesity; Polymorphism; Proteins; Respiration; rRNA 16S; Transfer RNA; age-related diseases; mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms; conplastic mouse strains; middle-aged obesity; mt-Cytb; complex III; healthspan; mitochondrially encoded cytochrome b gene; gut microbiota
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms20092359

In this study, we provide experimental evidence that a maternally inherited polymorphism in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene ( ; m.15124A>G, Ile-Val) in mitochondrial complex III resulted in middle-aged obesity and higher susceptibility to diet-induced obesity, as well as age-related inflammatory disease, e.g., ulcerative dermatitis, in mice. As a consequence of the gene variation, we observed alterations in body composition, metabolism and mitochondrial functions, i.e., increased mitochondrial oxygen consumption rate and higher levels of reactive oxygen species, as well as in the commensal bacterial composition in the gut, with higher abundance of Proteobacteria in mice carrying the variant. These observations are in line with the previously described links of the mitochondrial complex III gene with obesity and metabolic diseases in humans. Given that these functional changes by the G variant at m.15124 in the are already present in young mice that were kept under normal condition, it is plausible that the m.15124A>G variant is a disease susceptibility modifier to the diseases induced by additional stressors, i.e., dietary and/or aging stress, and that the variant results in the higher incidence of clinical diseases presentation in C57BL/6J-mt than C57BL/6J mice. Thus, mtDNA variants could be potential biomarkers to evaluate the healthspan.