Investigation of Mitochondrial Related Variants in a Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Cohort

Monogenic forms of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) can be caused by both variants in nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Mitochondrial encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) is known to have a phenotype similar to Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Sub-cortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL), and can be caused by variants in the mitochondrial genome and in several nuclear-encoded mitochondrial protein (NEMP) genes. The aim of this study was to screen for variants in the mitochondrial genome and NEMP genes in a NOTCH3 -negative CADASIL cohort, to identify a potential link between mitochondrial dysfunction and CSVD pathology. Whole exome sequencing was performed for 50 patients with CADASIL-like symptomology on the Ion Torrent system. Mitochondrial sequencing was performed using an in-house designed protocol with sequencing run on the Ion GeneStudio S5 Plus (S5 +). NEMP genes and mitochondrial sequencing data were examined for rare (MAF < 0.001), non-synonymous variants that were predicted to have a deleterious effect on the protein. We identified 29 candidate NEMP variants that had links to either MELAS-, encephalopathy-, or Alzheimer’s disease–related phenotypes. Based on these changes, variants affecting POLG , MTO1 , LONP1 , NDUFAF6 , NDUFB3 , and TCIRG1 were thought to play a potential role in CSVD pathology in this cohort. Overall, the exploration of the mitochondrial genome identified a potential role for mitochondrial related proteins and mtDNA variants contributing to CSVD pathologies.