Identification of mitochondrial genetic variants associated with human corneocyte size in Japanese women

Mitochondria have their own DNA (mtDNA). Genetic variants are likely to accumulate in mtDNA, and its base substitution rate is known to be very fast, 10–20 times faster than that of nuclear DNA. For this reason, mtSNPs (mitochondrial genome single nucleotide polymorphisms) are frequently detected in mtDNA. Several thousands of copies of mtDNA are considered to be present in a cell, and variants that have occurred in mtDNA are expected to markedly affect the intracellular energy production system and ROS (reactive oxygen species) kinetics. Therefore, recently, mtSNPs have come to be considered very important as a determinant of the individual constitution such as the life-span and disease susceptibility. In this study, we searched for mtSNPs that affect the individual corneocyte size using samples from 358 Japanese women. As a result, mtSNPs 10609C and 12406A were found to be significantly related to the corneocyte size in the outermost layer of the epidermis. There have been a large number of reports concerning the association between mtSNPs and individual constitution, but little evaluation of their relationships with epidermal properties has been made. The results of the present study first suggested that mtSNPs may affect the epidermal properties in Japanese women.