There are many causes of aging that are determined by an accumulation of various kinds of changes that impair the function of bodily organs. Of particular importance in aging, however, seems to be the changes that occur in the cell’s power plant — the mitochondrion. This structure is located in the cell and generates most of the cell’s supply of ATP which is used as a source of chemical energy.
“The mitochondria contains their own DNA, which changes more than the DNA in the nucleus, and this has a significant impact on the aging process,” said Nils-Göran Larsson, Ph.D., professor at the Karolinska Institutet and principal investigator at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, and leader of the current study alongside Lars Olson, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the Karolinska Institutet. “Many mutations in the mitochondria gradually disable the cell’s energy production,” said Larsson.
For the first time, the researchers have shown that the aging process is influenced not only by the accumulation of mitochondrial DNA damage during a person’s lifetime, but also by the inherited DNA from their mothers.
“Surprisingly, we also show that our mother’s mitochondrial DNA seems to influence our own ageing,” said Larsson. “If we inherit mDNA with mutations from our mother, we age more quickly.”
Normal and damaged DNA is passed down between generations. However, the question of whether it is possible to affect the degree of mDNA damage through lifestyle intervention is yet to be investigated. All that the researchers know now is that mild DNA damage transferred from the mother contributes to the ageing process.
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