Mitochondria News and Research

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Changes in mitochondria could cause health problems in Space

News-Medical speaks to Dr. Beheshti from NASA about his latest research that investigated whether changes in mitochondria could cause health problems in Space.

From NASA 29 Jan 2021

Study shows why obese mothers tend to have children susceptible to metabolic diseases

A Brazilian study published in the journal Molecular Human Reproduction helps understand why obese mothers tend to have children with a propensity to develop the metabolic disease during their lifetime, as suggested by previous research.

27 Jan 2021

Study explains operating mode of mitochondrial sorting and assembly machinery

Mitochondria are vital for the human body as cellular powerhouses: They possess more than 1,000 different proteins, required for many central metabolic pathways. Disfunction of these leads to severe diseases, especially of the nervous system and the heart.

18 Jan 2021

Circadian rhythms control killer cells in the immune system

According to an analysis of data humans’ ability to combat diseases may largely depend on day-to-day circadian cycles than previously believed.

13 Jan 2021

New discovery helps explain how COVID-19 suppresses the body’s immune response

Seeking to understand why COVID-19 is able to suppress the body's immune response, new research from the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology suggests that mitochondria are one of the first lines of defense against COVID-19 and identifies key differences in how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, interacts with mitochondrial genes when compared to other viruses.

12 Jan 2021

Researchers show how the genetic material travels from cell to cell

The genetic material of plants, animals, and humans is well protected in the nucleus of each cell and stores all the information that forms an organism. For example, information about the size or color of flowers, hair or fur is predefined here.

12 Jan 2021

Two cryo-EM studies identify different types of ATP synthase organization

The mitochondrial ATP synthase is energy-converting macromolecular machine that uses the electrochemical potential across the bioenergetic membrane called cristae. This potential is maintained via a membrane curvature that is induced by ATP synthase assembled in dimers.

11 Jan 2021

Researchers report a potential cancer drug that targets mitochondrial function

A newly developed compound starves cancer cells by attacking their "power plants" - the so-called mitochondria. The new compound prevents the genetic information within mitochondria from being read.

23 Dec 2020

Researchers use different colors of light to control gut bacteria genes

Baylor College of Medicine researcher Meng Wang had already shown that bacteria that make a metabolite called colanic acid (CA) could extend the lifespan of worms in her lab by as much as 50%, but her collaboration with Rice University synthetic biologist Jeffrey Tabor is providing tools to answer the bigger question of how the metabolite imparts longer life.

23 Dec 2020

Anti-hypertension drug prolongs lifespan in C. elegans, research shows

A stress response of mitochondria, the part of our cells that produce energy to power bodily functions, is important to a longer life.

21 Dec 2020

Novel compounds may lead to potential treatment for rare terminal childhood illness

Researchers have discovered a method to “rescue” genetically mutated cells, providing opportunities to develop a new treatment for mitochondrial disease.

From University of Exeter 21 Dec 2020

ECSIT protein can shed light on the origin of Alzheimer's disease

Researchers have found how a protein governs the behavior of proteins associated with the activity in mitochondria, which is impacted in Alzheimer's disease.

17 Dec 2020

Gene therapy and medication can provide certain beneficial effects of physical exercise

Jose Bianco Moreira from NTNU is now convinced that gene therapy can be used to achieve the positive health benefits of physical exercise.

7 Dec 2020

Gasdermin E triggers pyroptosis and involved in pathogen-induced coral death

Pyroptosis is a highly inflammatory form of programmed necrotic cell death that acts as a defense mechanism against the infection of bacterial and viral pathogens. Pyroptosis is executed by gasdermin, a family of pore-forming proteins.

7 Dec 2020

Researchers use super-resolution microscopy to study bacterial infection mechanisms

Expansion microscopy, abbreviated as ExM, allows scientists to image cells and their components with a spatial resolution down to 200 nm.

4 Dec 2020

Drug meant for bacterial infections can combat weight gain

A drug originally developed to treat bacterial infections has proved capable of boosting the metabolism and attenuating the weight gain induced by a fatty diet in tests with mice. The study was conducted at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) with FAPESP's support, and the findings have just been published in the journal Science Advances.

3 Dec 2020

New gene therapy can protect visual function in patients with dominant optic atrophy

Researchers have created a novel gene therapy approach that shows promise for someday treating an eye disease that results in progressive vision loss.

27 Nov 2020

Scientists identify new way to turn energy-poor pathway products into biorenewable ones

The imminent environmental crisis calls for an urgent transition to a green economy. A team of scientists at Nagoya University, Japan, led by Professor Susumu Saito, has recently found an interesting way to make this happen -- by leveraging an important metabolic pathway in living cells.

16 Nov 2020

Study shows statins have different effects on different parts of the body

Contrary to expectation, treatment with statins has a different effect on blood cells than on muscle cells, a new study from the University of Copenhagen reveals.

2 Nov 2020

Cellular senescence variations may help control health and onset of age-related diseases

Researchers from Kumamoto University, Japan have proposed that cellular senescence variations during the aging process could lead to control of health and onset of age-related diseases.

27 Oct 2020