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  Researchers have reviewed the role of mitochondria in cardiac diseases, highlighting different aspects of these multifaceted organelles and pointing out key processes, that, if deregulated, can lead to heart disease. Heart muscle cells – or cardiomyocytes – rely heavily on mitochondria for their energy needs. Different mitochondrial processes that can be…

A noninvasive method for analyzing the effectiveness of mitochondrial energy production in individual muscle groups shows promise to improve assessments in people with mitochondrial disease. Researchers hope the new method will complement current methods, based on magnetic resonance spectroscopy, to improve diagnostics, long-term monitoring, and evaluation of treatment response in…

Researchers used a long-term treatment approach of MitoQ (mitoquinone mesylate) in aging experimental mice, but the treatment had no beneficial effects on mitochondrial function or on muscle mass and function. The study, “Long-term administration of the mitochondria-targeted antioxidant mitoquinone mesylate fails to attenuate age-related oxidative damage or rescue the loss of…

Advanced biochemical engineering solutions have aided researchers in obtaining new knowledge about how mitochondria control programmed cell death, a self-destruction mechanism used by damaged or old cells. In the process, researchers also learned something fundamentally new about how mitochondria create energy, partly overturning old assumptions. The study, “…

Researchers recently reviewed the importance of the mitochondria, the cell’s energy production factories, with special focus on spinal cord injury (SCI) and the development of comorbidities such as Type 2 diabetes and obesity. They found that improvement of mitochondrial function may decrease cell death and metabolic function in these patients. In…

Mitochondria present in cells of the inner intestinal wall control the renewal of this organ’s surface and may contribute to the development of gut diseases, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Communications. The study, “Mitochondrial Function Controls Intestinal Epithelial Stemness And Proliferation,” was conducted by a…

Stealth Bio, a company that develops drugs to treat mitochondrial dysfunction and genetic mitochondrial diseases, recently launched Phase 2 of the clinical trial IDDEA-HF assessing elamipretide in patients hospitalized with congestive heart failure. Heart failure affects about 21 million people in the U.S. and Europe with cases expected to rise as populations continue to age. Heart…

A study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and Albert Einstein College of Medicine found a new route to correct dysfunctional mitochondria. The scientists designed small compounds that could help treat Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CTMD) and other mitochondrial diseases. The study, “Correcting mitochondrial fusion by manipulating mitofusin conformations,” was recently published…

Both mouse and fruit fly animal models of Leigh syndrome suggest that blocking a specific pathway controlled by the protein TOR increases animals’ lifespan. The results suggest that a future therapeutic strategy for Leigh syndrome, and possibly other mitochondria diseases, may require TOR inhibition. The study, “Rapamycin enhances survival…

Researchers at the University of Arkansas’ bioenergetics lab at its Fayetteville campus will lead a team of collaborators in a study funded by a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense. Its main goal is to investigate the origin of Leigh’s disease, a rare and incurable disorder…