Alpers, Mitochondria and Metabolism
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News
- Medicinal oil reduces debilitating epileptic seizures associated with Glut 1 deficiency, trial shows (8/11/2014) – For the trial participants who suffer from the disease called Glut1 deficiency (G1D), seizure frequency declined significantly. Most showed a rapid increase in brain metabolism and improved neuropsychological performance, findings that suggested the oil derived from castor beans called triheptanoin, ameliorated the brain glucose-depletion associated with this genetic disorder, which is often undiagnosed.
- Breakthrough DNA Study Opens Door to New Treatments for Mitochondrial Diseases (8/8/2013) – Please read the last sentence. Could this be a key to POLG mutations and “healthy” mtDNA replication? A groundbreaking cellular genetics study led by Carlos T. Moraes, Ph.D., professor of neurology and cell biology, opens the door to potential new treatments for mitochondrial diseases that affect the nerves, muscles and vital organs. In the new study, published in the August 4 edition of Nature Medicine, Moraes outlines how the research team was able to eliminate a mutant form of mitochondrial DNA in the cells of two patients with hereditary genetic disorders. Found throughout the human body, except in red blood cells, mitochondria are energy-producing organelles that convert food molecules into the chemical energy currency that cells use to power their functions. “Many patients with mitochondrial diseases have both normal and mutated mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA),” said Moraes. “We found a way to destroy the mutated one without affecting the normal mtDNA.”
- Hypothermia for pediatric refractory status epilepticus (8/1/2013) – Refractory status epilepticus (RSE) is often a major first symptom of Alpers Syndrome. Sadly, onset of RSE is a precursor of things to come. According to the research, “this is the largest pediatric case series reporting treatment of RSE with mild hypothermia. Hypothermia decreased seizure burden during and after pediatric RSE and may prevent RSE relapse.” This recent research using hypothermia (core body cooling) to control RSE has proven effective. Could it be used in Alpers cases to perhaps control RSE?
- Genome Research Benefits Growing and Getting Cheaper (6/16/2013) – “Ten years ago it would’ve taken a factory full of machines the size of fridge-freezers costing millions of dollars. Now you’re talking about doing DNA sequencing on a chip,” Life Technologies President Peter Silvester told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe,” showing one little bigger than a Scrabble tile. “The cost is coming down dramatically, and our goal is really to democratize sequencing.”
- Targeted Exome Sequencing of Suspected Mitochondrial Disorders (4/17/2013) – If a patient presents with something that could possibly be mito-related all the known possibilities may be checked at once, very cost and time-effective.
- Phase III Trial of Coenzyme Q10 in Mitochondrial Disease (9/1/2012) – Very promising for Alpers kids, the central hypothesis is that oral CoQ10 is a safe and effective treatment for children with inborn errors of mitochondrial energy metabolism due to defects in specific respiratory chain (RC) complexes or mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations, and that this beneficial action is reflected in improved motor and neurobehavioral function and in quality of life.
- DNA Blueprint for Fetus Built Using Tests of Parents (6/6/2012)
- Avocado oil protects against free radicals in mitochondria (4/23/2012)
Many studies of antioxidants in vegetables and fruits, such as carrots and tomatoes, have been completed with few encouraging results, says Christian Cortes-Rojo, a researcher at Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. “The problem is that the antioxidants in those substances are unable to enter mitochondria. So free radicals go on damaging mitochondria, causing energy production to stop and the cell to collapse and die. An analogy would be that, during an oil spill, if we cleaned only the spilled oil instead of fixing the perforation where oil is escaping, then the oil would go on spilling, and fish would die anyway.” Cortes-Rojo revealed the first research results showing the protective effects of avocado oil against free radicals in mitochondria, presenting his group’s work at the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, held in conjunction with the Experimental Biology 2012 conference in San Diego. - Stem Cell Scientists Discover a Way to Correct Mutations in Human Mitochondria by RNA Targeting (3/12/2012)
- Cost of Gene Sequencing Falls, Raising Hopes for Medical Advances (3/7/2012)
- Berlin to host the most important meeting on mitochondria: Mitochondria Engineering (2/20/2012)
- Oxford Strikes First in DNA Sequencing Nanopore Wars (2/17/2012)
- CLARITY Challenge on Genomic Data (1/26/2012)
- MitoExome sequencing highlights promise, challenges of genetic diagnostics (1/25/2012)
- Expansion of genome research will benefit two Boston-area research centers (12/6/2011)
- Genomics draws closer to the clinic (9/8/2010)
- FDA Grants EPI-743 for patients diagnosed with inherited respiratory chain diseases of the mitochondria (6/8/2011)
- Mitochondrial mapmakers
- Targeting Mitochondria is a special interest group/conference that is doing some exciting research in mitochondrial diseases
Alpers News
- Thursday, August 25, 2016Alpers-Huttenlocher syndrome: the role of a multidisciplinary health care team
J Multidiscip Healthc. 2016 Jul 26;9:323-33. doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S84900. eCollection 2016.ABSTRACTAlpers-Huttenlocher syndrome (AHS) is a mitochondrial DNA-depletion syndrome. Age of onset is bimodal: e … - Sunday, July 17, 2016Late-onset of Alpers-Huttenlocher syndrome: an unusual cause of refractory epilepsy and liver failure
Acta Neurol Belg. 2017 Mar;117(1):399-401. doi: 10.1007/s13760-016-0672-8. Epub 2016 Jul 15.NO ABSTRACTPMID:27422324 | DOI:10.1007/s13760-016-0672-8 … - Tuesday, April 28, 2015Alpers disease mutations in human DNA polymerase gamma cause catalytic defects in mitochondrial DNA replication by distinct mechanisms
Front Genet. 2015 Apr 9;6:135. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2015.00135. eCollection 2015.ABSTRACTThe human mitochondrial DNA polymerase gamma (Pol-γ) is nuclearly encoded and is responsible for the replication … - Thursday, January 29, 2015Whole exome sequencing reveals mutations in NARS2 and PARS2, encoding the mitochondrial asparaginyl-tRNA synthetase and prolyl-tRNA synthetase, in patients with Alpers syndrome
Mol Genet Genomic Med. 2015 Jan;3(1):59-68. doi: 10.1002/mgg3.115. Epub 2014 Oct 23.ABSTRACTAlpers syndrome is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that presents in infancy or early childhood and … - Thursday, January 22, 2015Valproic acid-induced hepatotoxicity in Alpers syndrome is associated with mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening-dependent apoptotic sensitivity in an induced pluripotent stem cell model
Hepatology. 2015 May;61(5):1730-9. doi: 10.1002/hep.27712. Epub 2015 Mar 10.ABSTRACTValproic acid (VPA) is widely used to treat epilepsy, migraine, chronic headache, bipolar disorder, and as adjuvant … - Saturday, November 30, 2013Juvenile Alpers disease
Rev Neurol. 2013 Dec 16;57(12):574-6.NO ABSTRACTPMID:24288107 …
News from Miracles for Mito
News from United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation
News from Targeting Mitochondria
- Friday, April 11, 2025Development of Mitochondria-Based Therapeutic Strategies for Disease Treatment
We are pleased to announce that Prof. Kosuke Kusamori from Tokyo University of Science, Japan, will be presenting his pioneering research on “Development of Mitochondria-Based Therapeutic Strategies f …
News from The Broad Stem Cell Research Center at UCLA
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