Clues to mitochondrial aging

Many age-related diseases share a common feature: the cells' mitochondria begin to malfuncti.

"Now that we have different hypotheses about why mitochondrial dysfunction occurs in aging and age-related diseases, we open up a completely different way of thinking about, measuring, mitigating and reversing this process," Chuankai ( Said .

Mitochondria are often referred to as the cell's "powerhouse" because this bean-like structure provides the unit of energy each cell needs to functi.

Mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with most chronic diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity, Zhou sa.

The team wanted to explore the contribution of "mitochondrial biogenesis" to mitochondrial dysfunction during agi.

Tom70 was previously thought to facilitate the introduction of newly synthesized mitochondrial protei.

In the current study, his team used yeast as a model to test whether Tom70 regulates mitochondrial biogenesis by coordinating the complex balance between the production of proteins for mitochondria and the rate at which those proteins enter mitochondr.

Until now, the two communication processes in mitochondria regarding demand and uptake have not been link.

Interestingly, they found that Tom70 decreased with age, which was associated with a reduction in mitochondrial biogenes.

Methods can be envisioned that could point new directions for aging resear.

They plan to delve deeper into yeast genetics to reveal details of its mechanisms, such as how Tom70 communicates with the nucle.

Citation:

Tom70-based transcriptional regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis and aging