Considering Mitochondrial Quality Control in Greater Detail

Loss of mitochondrial function is important in aging. Mitochondria are the power plants of the cell, a herd of bacteria-like organelles that contain their own mitochondrial DNA, constantly replicate by division or fuse together, and work to package the chemical energy store molecule adenosine triphosphate, used to power cellular processes. Numerous mechanisms are implicated in the age-related disruption of mitochondrial function, and many of them relate to quality control, either of individual mitochondrial proteins, or of the entire mitochondrion. For example, there is evidence for an age-related imbalance in mitochondrial fusion and fission to lead to overly large mitochondria that are resistant to the quality control mechanism of mitophagy - and thus they become worn and dysfunctional and are not replaced. Pathophysiological stress often damages mitochondria in myocytes which are vital for the heart's contractile activity. Therefore, continuous monitoring and repair of mitochondria are needed to maintain a healthy mitochondrial population in cells. Multiple levels of mitochondrial quality control exist both at the protein and organelle level. First, because the majority of mitochondrial proteins are encoded in the nucleus, significant monitoring of mitochondrial precursor proteins is needed during their cytosolic translation and import. The ubiquitin-proteasome system shapes the mitochondrial proteome through steady-state turnover of mitochondrial precursor...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs