Mitochondrial tRNA valine as a recurrent target for mutations involved in mitochondrial cardiomyopathies

The aim of this study was to identify the genetic defect in two patients having cardiac dysfunction accompanied by neurological symptoms, and in one case MRI evidence of cortical and cerebellar atrophy with hyperintensities in the basal ganglia. Muscle biopsies from each patient revealed single and combined mitochondrial respiratory chain deficiency. The complete mtDNA sequencing of both patients revealed two transitions in the mitochondrial tRNA Val gene (MT-TV) (m.1628C>T in Patient 1, and m.1644G>A in Patient 2). The functional and molecular analyses reported here suggest that the MT-TV gene should be routinely considered in the diagnosis of mitochondrial cardiomyopathies. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. and Mitochondria Research Society.
This work was supported by Grants PI060205 (to B.B.), PI070167 (to R.G.), and PI060547 (to M.A.M.) from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICIN); and GEN-0269/2006 from the Comunidad de Madrid (CM) (to M.A.M. and R.G.).