Nuclear-Mitochondrial Intergenomic Communication Disorders

Mitochondria are dynamic subcellular organelles present in virtually all eukaryotic cells with numerous functions. The most important of these functions is production of ATP; however they play an important role in various metabolic and developmental processes such as calcium homeostasis, apoptosis and programmed cell death, just to mention some. Mitochondria produce ATP by means of the mitochondrial respiratory chain (MRC) and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) system, a series of five enzyme complexes embedded in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Mitochondrial disorders most often refer to the dysfunction of OXPHOS system leading to deficiency in the ATP production. They are a group of genetically and phenotypically heterogeneous disorders with an incidence estimated to be between 1:5,000 and 1:10,000 live births [1].