Author Archives: Margarida Azevedo, MSc

Researchers recently tested the effects of the high-fat, low carbohydrate ketogenic diet on fibroblasts from patients with Leigh syndrome (LS), focusing on decanoic acid. The results suggest that this component had beneficial effects on mitochondrial function, decreasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and improving mitochondrial respiration. Therefore, the effects of this…

Timothy Shutt, a researcher at the University of Calgary, was recently awarded $250,000 through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) to advance research focused on the role of mitochondria in childhood diseases. Mitochondria are specialized structures unique to cells that serve as energy sources, powering various…

A free webinar explaining why Parkinson’s disease researchers are interested in studying mitochondrial function will be at 1 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, April 6. The Foundation for Mitochondrial Medicine (FMM) is hosting the Hope Flies Health Series Webinar titled “Research Connecting Parkinson’s Disease and Mitochondrial Disease,” according to a…

The Sandra K. Russell Derby Day Benefit, a Kentucky Derby-themed event with a live broadcast of the May 7 race, will raise funds for MitoAction, a nonprofit working to advocate and educate on behalf of the people and families affected by mitochondrial diseases. According to a press release, the…

Stealth BioTherapeutics recently announced the initiation of the Phase 2 ReVEAL clinical trial to assess the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of its topical eye formulation (elamipretide) to treat patients with Fuchs corneal endothelial dystrophy (FCED), a disease linked to dysfunctional mitochondria. FCED is a genetic disease that affects the eye…

Harvard Medical School researchers and colleagues have linked, for a first time, mitochondria dysfunction due to oxidative DNA damage in corneal endothelial cells to the development of Fuchs’ endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD), the leading cause of age-related corneal edema requiring transplantation. Their article, “Menadione-induced DNA damage leads to mitochondrial dysfunction…

A protein called p62 acts as an anti-inflammatory molecular brake, helping to eliminate damaged mitochondria and preventing the onset of excessive inflammation that can harm healthy cells and tissues, leading to premature aging, autoimmunity, or worse. Besides elucidating how the body is able to turn off inflammation, the findings by…

Researchers investigating mechanisms for coping with mitochondrial dysfunction and disease have found that the body’s natural response to induced low levels of oxygen has a protective effect against mitochondrial injury. The article, by Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers and titled “Hypoxia as a therapy for mitochondrial disease,” was…

Three researchers were brought together by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to consider the ethics, guidelines, and potential risks of mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRTs) aiming to prevent mother-to-child transmission of mitochondrial diseases. Their article, “Mitochondrial Replacement Techniques — Implications for the Clinical Community,” was published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF), an independent organization founded in 2005 to accelerate stem cell research into possible disease cures and better treatments, applauded the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Institute of Medicine (IOM) report upholding the use of mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) on ethical grounds, provided certain conditions…