Figure 3

Mitochondrial functions in young mice correlate to the levels of 12 A heteroplasmy at OriL. (a) Oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) complex activities measured using liver mitochondria obtained from young mice (three months old, females), normalized to the individual mtDNA copy number ratio (mt-Co1/Vdac1). Complex I (CI) activities were normalized to citrate synthase (CS) activities. Complex III (CIII), complex IV (CIV) as well as complex V (CV) values were also analyzed in the same manner. Complex I (CI) activities normalized to citrate synthase (CS) activities significantly correlate with the levels of 12 A heteroplasmy in OriL when normalized to the individual mtDNA copy number ratio. N = 7 (B6), n = 8 (B6-mt^AKR). Correlations were investigated using the Spearman rank correlation. (b) Levels of hydrogen peroxide in female liver mitochondria obtained from young mice (3–5 months old) normalized to the individual mtDNA copy number ratio (mt-Co1/Vdac1). The normalized ROS levels show a positive correlation with the levels of 12 A heteroplasmy in OriL (ρ = 0.575, P = 0.0249, Spearman test). N = 7 (B6), n = 8 (B6-mt^AKR).