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THERAPEUTICS

Treating mitochondrial diseases with antibiotics

Nature Metabolism volume 3, pages 5–6 (2021)Cite this article

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Mitochondrial diseases are caused by genetic variants in either nuclear or mitochondrial DNA, and they have no known treatments. A new study by Perry et al. in this issue of Nature Metabolism used a drug screen to identify the widely available antibiotic doxycycline, an inhibitor of mitochondrial translation, as a potential pharmacological treatment for mitochondrial diseases.

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Fig. 1: Doxycycline as a therapy for mitochondrial diseases.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, Chicago, IL, USA

    Divakar S. Mithal

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Divakar S. Mithal

  3. Department of Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Navdeep S. Chandel

Authors
  1. Divakar S. Mithal
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  2. Navdeep S. Chandel
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Correspondence to Navdeep S. Chandel.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Mithal, D.S., Chandel, N.S. Treating mitochondrial diseases with antibiotics. Nat Metab 3, 5–6 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-020-00336-w

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