The 4977 bp deletion of mitochondrial DNA in human skeletal muscle, heart and different areas of the brain: a useful biomarker or more?

C Meissner, P Bruse, SA Mohamed, A Schulz… - Experimental …, 2008 - Elsevier
It has been suggested that deletions of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are important players
with regard to the ageing process. Since the early 1990s, the 4977bp deletion has been
studied in various tissues, especially in postmitotic tissues with high energy demand.
Unfortunately, some of these studies included less than 10 subjects, so the aim of our study
was to quantify reliably the deletion amount in nine different regions of human brain, heart
and skeletal muscle in a cohort of 92 individuals. The basal ganglia contain the highest …