Friedreich's ataxia (FA) is a rare neurodegenerative disease which is very debilitating for the patients who progressively lose their autonomy. The lack of efficient therapeutic treatment of the disease strongly argues for urgent need to search for new active compounds that may stop the progression of the disease or prevent the appearance of the symptoms when the genetic defect is diagnosed ear...

Severe mitochondria deficiency leads to a number of devastating degenerative disorders, yet, mild mitochondrial dysfunction in different species, including the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, can have pro-longevity effects. This apparent paradox indicates that cellular adaptation to partial mitochondrial stress can induce beneficial responses, but how this is achieved is largely unknown. Compl...

Frataxin deficiency is the main cause of Friedreich ataxia, an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder. Frataxin function in mitochondria has not been fully explained yet. In this work, we show that Saccharomyces cerevisiae frataxin orthologue Yfh1p interacts physically with succinate dehydrogenase complex subunits Sdh1p and Sdh2p of the yeast mitochondrial electron transport chain and a...

Friedreich ataxia (FA) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by the deficiency of frataxin, mitochondrial protein. In primary cultures dorsal root ganglia neurons, we showed that frataxin depletion resulted in decreased levels calcium exchanger NCLX, neurite degeneration and apoptotic cell death. Here, describe frataxin-deficient neurons display low ferredoxin 1 (FDX1), Fe/S cluster-containing ...

Frataxin is a conserved mitochondrial protein deficient in patients with Friedreich's ataxia. Frataxin has been implicated in control of iron homoeostasis and Fe-S cluster assembly. In yeast or human mitochondria, frataxin interacts with components of the Fe-S cluster synthesis machinery, including the cysteine desulfurase Nfs1, accessory protein Isd11 and scaffold protein Isu. In the present p...

The genetic mutation in Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is a hyperexpansion of the triplet-repeat sequence GAA·TTC within the first intron of the FXN gene. Although yeast and reporter construct models for GAA·TTC triplet-repeat expansion have been reported, studies on FRDA pathogenesis and therapeutic development are limited by the availability of an appropriate cell model in which to study the mechan...

Friedreich ataxia is caused by an expanded (GAA.TTC)n sequence in intron 1 of the FXN gene. Small pool PCR analysis showed that pure (GAA.TTC)44+ sequences at the FXN locus are unstable in somatic cells in vivo, displaying both expansions and contractions. On searching the entire human and mouse genomes we identified three other genomic loci with pure (GAA.TTC)44+ sequences. Alleles at these lo...

Frataxin is a mitochondrial protein deficient in Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) and which is associated with abnormal intramitochondrial iron handling. We identified the mitochondrial processing peptidase beta (MPPbeta) as a frataxin protein partner using the yeast two-hybrid assay. In in vitro assays, MPPbeta binds frataxin which is cleaved by the reconstituted MPP heterodimer. MPP cleavage of frata...

EDITOR—Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA, MIM 229300) is an autosomal recessive, progressive, neurodegenerative disorder. It is the most common of all hereditary ataxias, with an estimated prevalence of 1 in 50 000, and a carrier frequency calculated to be as high as 1 in 90 in white populations. Onset normally occurs between 8 and 15 years of age, presenting as ataxia of gait accompanied by dysarthria...

Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is a recessive neurodegenerative disorder commonly associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. FRDA is due to expanded GAA repeats within the first intron of the gene encoding frataxin, a conserved mitochondrial protein involved in iron-sulphur cluster biosynthesis. This mutation leads to partial gene silencing and substantial reduction of the frataxin level. To over...