Mitochondrial dynamism and heart disease: changing shape and shaping change

Gerald W Dorn; EMBO Mol Med. 2015 July; 7(7): 865–877. doi: 10.15252/emmm.201404575

A example of heart disease provoked by primary genetic mitochondrial dysfunction is Friedreich's ataxia. This autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease is caused by triplet nucleotide repeat expansions within the FXN gene, encoding the mitochondrial matrix iron chaperone protein frataxin. In addition to progressive dorsal sensory nerve degeneration and ataxia, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is seen in a majority of patients; heart failure is the terminal diagnosis in approximately one-third of affected individuals. Cardiac mitochondria in Friedreich's ataxia undergo massive proliferation with decreased ATP production, consistent with functional compromise of the electron transport chain.

 Mitochondrial dynamism and heart disease: changing shape and shaping change