Mitochondrial D-Loop Region Methylation and Copy Number in Peripheral Blood DNA of Parkinson's Disease Patients.
Andrea StoccoroAdam R SmithFilippo BaldacciClaudia Del GambaAnnalisa Lo GerfoRoberto CeravoloKatie LunnonLucia MiglioreFabio CoppedèPublished in: Genes (2021)
Altered mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) methylation has been detected in several human pathologies, although little attention has been given to neurodegenerative diseases. Recently, altered methylation levels of the mitochondrial displacement loop (D-loop) region, which regulates mtDNA replication, were observed in peripheral blood cells of Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients. However, nothing is yet known about D-loop region methylation levels in peripheral blood of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. In the current study, we investigated D-loop methylation levels and mtDNA copy number in peripheral blood of 30 PD patients and 30 age- and sex-matched control subjects. DNA methylation analyses have been performed by means of methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting (MS-HRM) and pyrosequencing techniques, while mtDNA copy number was analyzed by quantitative PCR. MS-HRM and pyrosequencing analyses provided very similar D-loop methylation levels in PD patients and control subjects, and no differences between the two groups have been observed. Treatment with L-dopa and duration of the disease had no effect on D-loop methylation levels in PD patients. Additionally, mtDNA copy number did not differ between PD patients and control subjects. Current results suggest that D-loop methylation levels are not altered in peripheral blood of PD patients nor influenced by dopaminergic treatment.
Keyphrases
- copy number
- mitochondrial dna
- dna methylation
- end stage renal disease
- peripheral blood
- ejection fraction
- genome wide
- chronic kidney disease
- newly diagnosed
- high resolution
- peritoneal dialysis
- prognostic factors
- gene expression
- endothelial cells
- circulating tumor
- cell proliferation
- ms ms
- induced apoptosis
- combination therapy
- pi k akt
- replacement therapy