Childhood neurological presentation of a novel mitochondrial tRNA(Val) gene mutation
Emma L Blakely1, Joanna Poulton, Michael Pike
1Mitochondrial Research Group, School of Neurology, Neurobiology, and Psychiatry, The Medical School, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK.
Abstract:
We describe a young girl with a novel 1659T>C mutation in the tRNA(Val) gene of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) who presented with learning difficulties, hemiplegia, and a movement disorder, together with a raised cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) lactate. The mutation, which was present at high levels of heteroplasmy in patient tissues, interrupts a conserved Watson-Crick basepair in the TPsiC stem and has not previously been described in controls. This report further confirms the frequent association of mitochondrial tRNA mutation with neurological presentations, even in paediatric cases.
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