| First Author | Vermulst M | Year | 2007 |
| Journal | Nat Genet | Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 4 | Pages | 540-3 |
| PubMed ID | 17334366 | Mgi Jnum | J:141666 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3819087 | Doi | 10.1038/ng1988 |
| Citation | Vermulst M, et al. (2007) Mitochondrial point mutations do not limit the natural lifespan of mice. Nat Genet 39(4):540-3 |
| abstractText | Whether mitochondrial mutations cause mammalian aging, or are merely correlated with it, is an area of intense debate. Here, we use a new, highly sensitive assay to redefine the relationship between mitochondrial mutations and age. We measured the in vivo rate of change of the mitochondrial genome at a single-base pair level in mice, and we demonstrate that the mutation frequency in mouse mitochondria is more than ten times lower than previously reported. Although we observed an 11-fold increase in mitochondrial point mutations with age, we report that a mitochondrial mutator mouse was able to sustain a 500-fold higher mutation burden than normal mice, without any obvious features of rapidly accelerated aging. Thus, our results strongly indicate that mitochondrial mutations do not limit the lifespan of wild-type mice. |
