Research article

Somatic mutations in the mitochondria of rheumatoid arthritis synoviocytes

Tanya R Da Sylva¹ , Alison Connor² , Yvonne Mburu¹, Edward Keystone³ and Gillian E Wu¹

¹Department of Biology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

²The Wellesley Toronto Arthritis and Immune Disorder Research Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

³Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

author email corresponding author email

Arthritis Research & Therapy 2005, 7:R844-R851doi:10.1186/ar1752

Published:	28 April 2005

Abstract

Somatic mutations have a role in the pathogenesis of a number of diseases, particularly cancers. Here we present data supporting a role of mitochondrial somatic mutations in an autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA is a complex, multifactorial disease with a number of predisposition traits, including major histocompatibility complex (MHC) type and early bacterial infection in the joint. Somatic mutations in mitochondrial peptides displayed by MHCs may be recognized as non-self, furthering the destructive immune infiltration of the RA joint. Because many bacterial proteins have mitochondrial homologues, the immune system may be primed against these altered peptides if they mimic bacterial homologues. In addition, somatic mutations may be influencing cellular function, aiding in the acquirement of transformed properties of RA synoviocytes. To test the hypothesis that mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are associated with RA, we focused on the MT-ND1 gene for mitochondrially encoded NADH dehydrogenase 1 (subunit one of complex I – NADH dehydrogenase) of synoviocyte mitochondria from RA patients, using tissue from osteoarthritis (OA) patients for controls. We identified the mutational burden and amino acid changes in potential epitope regions in the two patient groups. RA synoviocyte mtDNA had about twice the number of mutations as the OA group. Furthermore, some of these changes had resulted in potential non-self MHC peptide epitopes. These results provide evidence for a new role for somatic mutations in mtDNA in RA and predict a role in other diseases.