Investigation of the Role of Mitochondrial DNA in Multiple Sclerosis Susceptibility

Several lines of evidence suggest that mitochondrial genetic factors may influence susceptibility to multiple sclerosis. To explore this hypothesis further, we re-sequenced the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) from 159 patients with multiple sclerosis and completed a haplogroup analysis including a further 835 patients and 1,506 controls. A trend towards over-representation of super-haplogroup U was the only evidence for association with mtDNA that we identified in these samples. In a parallel analysis of nuclear encoded mitochondrial genes, we also found a trend towards association with the complex I gene, NDUFS2. These results add to the evidence suggesting that variation in mtDNA and nuclear encoded mitochondrial genes may contribute to disease susceptibility in multiple sclerosis

A global multiproxy database for temperature reconstructions of the Common Era

Reproducible climate reconstructions of the Common Era (1 CE to present) are key to placing industrial-era warming into the context of natural climatic variability. Here we present a community-sourced database of temperature-sensitive proxy records from the PAGES2k initiative. The database gathers 692 records from 648 locations, including all continental regions and major ocean basins. The records are from trees, ice, sediment, corals, speleothems, documentary evidence, and other archives. They range in length from 50 to 2000 years, with a median of 547 years, while temporal resolution ranges from biweekly to centennial. Nearly half of the proxy time series are significantly correlated with HadCRUT4.2 surface temperature over the period 1850–2014. Global temperature composites show a remarkable degree of coherence between high- and low-resolution archives, with broadly similar patterns across archive types, terrestrial versus marine locations, and screening criteria. The database is suited to investigations of global and regional temperature variability over the Common Era, and is shared in the Linked Paleo Data (LiPD) format, including serializations in Matlab, R and Python

The therapeutic potential of targeting endogenous inhibitors of nitric oxide synthesis

Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) — a naturally occurring amino acid that is a product of protein breakdown — is released into the cytoplasm following the post-translational methylation of arginine residues within proteins and the subsequent proteolysis of these arginine-methylated proteins. ADMA inhibits all three isoforms of nitric oxide synthase and therefore has the potential to produce diverse biological effects, particularly in the cardiovascular system. In addition to its renal clearance, endogenously produced ADMA is metabolized to L-citrulline and dimethylamine by the dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH) enzymes. Pharmacological modification of DDAH has therefore been proposed as a mechanism for manipulating endogenous ADMA concentrations and regulating the production of nitric oxide in situations where alterations in nitric oxide signalling have been shown to contribute to pathophysiology. This Review describes the biology of ADMA and the potential therapeutic utility of manipulating DDAH activity