Mission: Understand mtDNA mutation and variation for disease origin and treatment

Goals:

1. To illustrate mtDNA mutation dynamics at germline cells, somatic tissues and population;

2. To investigate the impact of mtDNA mutation and variation on cellular physiology;

3. To discover novel approaches to maintain mitochondrial health.

Background and Significance:

Mitochondria play important roles in development and health. Besides producing ATP, mitochondria are also responsible for a series of diverse cellular processes, including calcium signaling, iron homeostasis, steroid synthesis, heme biosynthesis, ROS production, and programmed cell death. Recently, mitochondria have also been implicated as master regulators for epigenetic and immune responses, partially through orchestrated communication between nuclear and mitochondrial genome. Due to their symbiotic origin, mitochondria host their own genome (mtDNA), an important feature that is unique among organelles in animals. Mutations in mtDNA occur at a much higher rate than in nuclear DNA. Because ~95% of mtDNA are in the coding region, many mtDNA mutations could lead to dramatic alterations in cellular activities, the emergence of phenotypic variation, functional decline and disease.

The importance of mtDNA mutation in diseases has been traditionally underappreciated due to multiple reasons, including technical difficulties and perceptive negligence. The purpose of this center is to overcome these challenges and systematically address the role of mtDNA mutations in diseases, including children diseases and age-related diseases. The center will be dedicated to this critical issue, and brings vision, creativity, leadership, and paradigm shift to biology.