Integrative omics approaches provide biological and clinical insights: examples from mitochondrial diseases

High-throughput technologies for genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, and integrative analysis of these data, enable new, systems-level insights into disease pathogenesis. Mitochondrial diseases are an excellent target for hypothesis-generating omics approaches, as the disease group is mechanistically exceptionally complex. Although the genetic background in mitochondrial diseases is in either the nuclear or the mitochondrial genome, the typical downstream effect is dysfunction of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. However, the clinical manifestations show unprecedented variability, including either systemic or tissue-specific effects across multiple organ systems, with mild to severe symptoms, and occurring at any age. So far, the omics approaches have provided mechanistic understanding of tissue-specificity and potential treatment options for mitochondrial diseases, such as metabolome remodeling. However, no curative treatments exist, suggesting that novel approaches are needed. In this Review, we discuss omics approaches and discoveries with the potential to elucidate mechanisms of and therapies for mitochondrial diseases.