No Evidence of Persistence or Inheritance of Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number in Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants

CAI, Na, Monika FŇAŠKOVÁ, Klára KONEČNÁ, Miloslava FOJTOVÁ, Jiří FAJKUS, Eve COOMBER, Stephen WATT, Nicole SORANZO, Marek PREISS and Ivan REKTOR. No Evidence of Persistence or Inheritance of Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number in Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants. FRONTIERS IN GENETICS. LAUSANNE: FRONTIERS MEDIA SA, vol. 11, 03 March 2020, p. 87-98. ISSN 1664-8021. doi:10.3389/fgene.2020.00087. 2020.

Basic information

• Original name: No Evidence of Persistence or Inheritance of Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number in Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants
• Authors: CAI, Na, Monika FŇAŠKOVÁ (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution), Klára KONEČNÁ (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution), Miloslava FOJTOVÁ (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution), Jiří FAJKUS (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution), Eve COOMBER, Stephen WATT, Nicole SORANZO, Marek PREISS (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution) and Ivan REKTOR (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution).
• Edition: FRONTIERS IN GENETICS, LAUSANNE, FRONTIERS MEDIA SA, 2020, 1664-8021.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: 30101 Human genetics
• Country of publisher: Switzerland
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• Impact factor: Impact factor: 4.599
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14740/20:00116207
• Organization unit: Central European Institute of Technology
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2020.00087
• UT WoS: 000525236500001
• Keywords in English: mitochondrial DNA; posttraumatic stress disorder; copy number variation; quantitative PCR; Holocaust-psychic trauma
• Tags: 14110127, podil, rivok
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

Mitochondrial DNA copy number has been previously shown to be elevated with severe and chronic stress, as well as stress-related pathology like Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While experimental data point to likely recovery of mtDNA copy number changes after the stressful event, time needed for full recovery and whether it can be achieved are still unknown. Further, while it has been shown that stress-related mtDNA elevation affects multiple tissues, its specific consequences for oogenesis and maternal inheritance of mtDNA has never been explored. In this study, we used qPCR to quantify mtDNA copy number in 15 Holocaust survivors and 102 of their second- and third-generation descendants from the Czech Republic, many of whom suffer from PTSD, and compared them to controls in the respective generations. We found no significant difference in mtDNA copy number in the Holocaust survivors compared to controls, whether they have PTSD or not, and no significant elevation in descendants of female Holocaust survivors as compared to descendants of male survivors or controls. Our results showed no evidence of persistence or inheritance of mtDNA changes in Holocaust survivors, though that does not rule out effects in other tissues or mitigating mechanism for such changes.

Links

• LQ1601, research and development project: Name: CEITEC 2020 (Acronym: CEITEC2020)

Investor: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the CR

• NV18-04-00559, research and development project: Name: Neurobiologické a psychologické markery reakce na extrémní stres a jeho dopad na potomky - třígenerační studie přeživších holokaust a jejich potomků

Investor: Ministry of Health of the CR, Neurobiological and psychological markers of reaction to extreme stress and its impact on offspring - three generation study of holocaust survivors and their offspring