Control over the number of mtDNA molecules per cell appears to be tightly regulated, but the mechanisms involved are largely unknown. Reversible alterations in the amount of mtDNA occur in response to stress suggesting that control over the amount of mtDNA is involved in stress-related diseases including major depressive disorder (MDD). Using low-coverage sequence data from 10,442 Chinese women to compute the normalized numbers of reads mapping to the mitochondrial genome as a proxy for the amount of mtDNA, we identified two loci that contribute to mtDNA levels: one within the TFAM gene on chromosome 10 (rs11006126, p value = 8.73 × 10(-28), variance explained = 1.90%) and one over the CDK6 gene on chromosome 7 (rs445, p value = 6.03 × 10(-16), variance explained = 0.50%). Both loci replicated in an independent cohort. CDK6 is thus a new molecule involved in the control of mtDNA. We identify increased rates of heteroplasmy in women with MDD, and show from an experimental paradigm using mice that the increase is likely due to stress. Furthermore, at least one heteroplasmic variant is significantly associated with changes in the amount of mtDNA (position 513, p value = 3.27 × 10(-9), variance explained = 0.48%) suggesting site-specific heteroplasmy as a possible link between stress and increase in amount of mtDNA. These findings indicate the involvement of mitochondrial genome copy number and sequence in an organisms response to stress.

The biological mechanisms underpinning learning are unclear. Mounting evidence has suggested that adult hippocampal neurogenesis is involved although a causal relationship has not been well defined. Here, using high-resolution genetic mapping of adult neurogenesis, combined with sequencing information, we identify follistatin (Fst) and demonstrate its involvement in learning and adult neurogenesis. We confirmed that brain-specific Fst knockout (KO) mice exhibited decreased hippocampal neurogenesis and demonstrated that FST is critical for learning. Fst KO mice exhibit deficits in spatial learning, working memory, and long-term potentiation (LTP). In contrast, hippocampal overexpression of Fst in KO mice reversed these impairments. By utilizing RNA sequencing and chromatin immunoprecipitation, we identified Asic4 as a target gene regulated by FST and show that Asic4 plays a critical role in learning deficits caused by Fst deletion. Long-term overexpression of hippocampal Fst in C57BL/6 wild-type mice alleviates age-related decline in cognition, neurogenesis, and LTP. Collectively, our study reveals the functions for FST in adult neurogenesis and learning behaviors.

Adversity, particularly in early life, can cause illness. Clues to the responsible mechanisms may lie with the discovery of molecular signatures of stress, some of which include alterations to an individual's somatic genome. Here, using genome sequences from 11,670 women, we observed a highly significant association between a stress-related disease, major depression, and the amount of mtDNA (p = 9.00 × 10(-42), odds ratio 1.33 [95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.29-1.37]) and telomere length (p = 2.84 × 10(-14), odds ratio 0.85 [95% CI = 0.81-0.89]). While both telomere length and mtDNA amount were associated with adverse life events, conditional regression analyses showed the molecular changes were contingent on the depressed state. We tested this hypothesis with experiments in mice, demonstrating that stress causes both molecular changes, which are partly reversible and can be elicited by the administration of corticosterone. Together, these results demonstrate that changes in the amount of mtDNA and telomere length are consequences of stress and entering a depressed state. These findings identify increased amounts of mtDNA as a molecular marker of MD and have important implications for understanding how stress causes the disease.