The role of mitochondria in the female germline: implications to fertility and inheritance of mitochondrial diseases.

The role of mitochondria in the female germline: implications to fertility and inheritance of mitochondrial diseases. Cell Biol Int. 2018 Feb 08;: Authors: Chiaratti MR, Garcia BM, Carvalho KF, Machado TS, da Ribeiro FKS, Macabelli CH Abstract Mitochondria play a fundamental role during development of the female germline. They are fragmented, round and small. Despite these characteristics suggesting that they are inactive, there is accumulating evidence that mitochondrial dysfunctions are a major cause of infertility and generation of aneuploidies in humans. In addition, mitochondria and their own genomes (mitochondrial DNA - mtDNA) may become damaged with time, which might be one reason why aging leads to infertility. As a result, mitochondria have been proposed as an important target for evaluating oocyte and embryo quality, and developing treatments for female infertility. On the other hand, mutations in mtDNA may cause mitochondrial dysfunctions, leading to severe diseases that affect 1 in 4 300 people. Moreover, very low levels of mutated mtDNA seem to be present in every person worldwide. These may increase with time and associate with late-onset degenerative diseases such as Parkinson diseases, Alzheimer disease and common cancers. Mutations in mtDNA are transmitted down the maternal lineage, following a poorly understood pattern of inheritance. Recent findings have indicated existence in the female germline of a purifying fil...
Source: Cell Biology International - Category: Cytology Authors: Tags: Cell Biol Int Source Type: research