In the situation that it would not be able to produce model animals for mitochondrial diseases caused by mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) with pathogenic mutations, we succeeded in generating mice with pathogenic deletion mutant mtDNA (ΔmtDNA), named “mito-mice”, by direct introduction of mitochondria with ΔmtDNA into mouse zygotes. In the mito-mice, accumulation of ΔmtDNA induced mitochondrial respiration defects in various tissues, resulting in mitochondrial disease phenotypes, such as low body weight, lactic acidosis, ischemia, myopathy, heart block, deafness, male infertility, and renal failure. Thus, mito-mice are the first model animal for mtDNA-based diseases, and the mice could be valuable for understanding precise pathogeneses and testing therapies of mitochondrial diseases. In the present review, we summarized reverse genetic studies using the mito-mice.

(Communicated by Takao SEKIYA, M.J.A.)