"Mitochondrial dysfunction has been recognized as a significant cause of a number of serious multi-organ diseases. Tissues with a high metabolic demand such as brain, heart, muscle, CNS are often affected. Mitochondrial disease can be due to mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) or in nuclear genes involved in mitochondrial function. There is no curative treatment for patients with mitochondrial disease. Given the lack of treatments and the limitations of prenatal and preimplantation diagnosis, attention has focused on prevention of transmission of mitochondrial disease through germline gene replacement therapy. Since mtDNA is strictly maternally inherited, two approaches have been proposed. In the first, the nuclear genome from the pronuclear stage zygote of an affected woman is transferred to an enucleated donor zygote. A second technique involves transfer of the metaphase II spindle from the unfertilized oocyte of an affected woman to an enucleated donor oocyte. Our group recently reported successful spindle transfer between human oocytes resulting in blastocyst development and embryonic stem cell derivation, with very low levels of heteroplasmy."
from Amato P, Masahito T, Sparman M, Mitalipov S. 2014. Three-parent IVF: gene replacement for the prevention of inherited mitochondrial diseases. Fertil Steril. 101(1):31-35.
mtDNA
Mitochondrial
Zygote
Spindle transfer
Oocyte
Blastocyst
Mutation