Lestienne P
Unité 298 INSERM, CHU d'Angers.
C R Seances Soc Biol Fil. 1997;191(4):579-92.
Ageing is an unavoidable and complex phenomenon which may be a price to pay to evolution. Thus genetics appear to play a predominant role besides environmental factors. Energetic metabolism slowly declines with ageing supporting a possible active role of mitochondria, the power supply of the cells, to this process. Mitochondrial DNA alterations appear during the mid-life and in degenerative diseases such as in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's; they include large scale deletions and point mutations. Since the respiratory chain plays a major role in the generation of superoxide anions which are converted into hydroxyl radicals that may impair lipids, proteins and DNA function in mitochondria, this vicious cycle may result from both an altered control of mitochondrial biogenesis dependent from the nucleus, and/or from a lack of repair and accumulation of somatic mitochondrial DNA mutations.
衰老 是一种不可避免且复杂的现象，它可能是进化需要付出的代价。因此，除环境因素外，遗传学似乎起着主要作用。随着年龄增长，能量代谢会缓慢下降，这支持了细胞的能量供应者——线粒体在此过程中可能发挥的积极作用。线粒体DNA改变出现在中年时期以及帕金森病和阿尔茨海默病等退行性疾病中；这些改变包括大规模缺失和点突变。由于呼吸链在超氧阴离子的产生中起主要作用，而超氧阴离子会转化为羟基自由基，可能损害线粒体中的脂质、蛋白质和DNA功能，这种恶性循环可能源于细胞核对线粒体生物发生的控制改变，和/或源于体细胞线粒体DNA突变的修复不足和积累。
