Mitochondrial DNA Mutation as a Contributing Cause of Aging, and the Prospects for Therapies

Mitochondria are the power plants of the cell. They are deeply integrated into many core cellular processes, but their primary responsibility is to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), an energy store molecule used to power cellular activities. Mitochondria are the evolved descendants of ancient symbiotic bacteria, and carry a small remnant genome encoding a handful of genes vital to ATP production. Each cell contains hundreds of mitochondria. Worn mitochondria are destroyed by the quality control process of mitophagy, while other mitochondria replicate much like bacteria to make up numbers. The mitochondrial genome is less well protected than the nuclear genome, and some forms of mutational damage can cause mitochondria to become both dysfunctional and in some way able to outcompete their peers, either resistant to mitophagy or better able to replicate, or both. It is an open question as to how much of the age-related decline in mitochondrial function is a result of stochastic mitochondrial DNA damage, both modest and severe, versus the characteristic epigenetic changes of age that impair mitophagy and mitochondrial function in other ways. To answer that question, it would be necessary to repair mitochondrial DNA damage in isolation of other processes. This is the goal of the MitoSENS project at the SENS Research Foundation, and their approach is to place mitochondrial genes into the nuclear genome, suitably altered such that the proteins produced are transpo...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs