News

Embryonic stem cells were reported to be a good model system for studying the impact of mutations leading to the mitochondrial disease Leigh syndrome. The study, “Deletion of the Complex I Subunit NDUFS4 Adversely Modulates Cellular Differentiation,” was published in the Stem Cells and Development…

A recent study in the Journal of the American Heart Association showed that mice fed a high-fat, high-sucrose (HFHS) diet developed metabolic heart disease through the induction of changes in mitochondrial enzymes by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Earlier studies in HFHS-fed mice suggested that ROS are involved in the…

Researchers from the Salk Institute have unraveled molecular mechanisms behind mitochondrial fragmentation and re-assembly, a cellular mechanism that maintains healthy energy levels and protects cells from insults. The findings may have implications for disorders like mitochondrial disease, diabetes, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases linked to dysfunctional mitochondria. When mitochondria are subjected…

Researchers recently suggested that patients with the same mutation in their nuclear DNA exhibit multiple clinical phenotypes due to alterations in the mitochondrial DNA. The study, titled “A Clinical, Neuropathological and Genetic Study of Homozygous A467T POLG-Related Mitochondrial Disease,” was published in PLOS One journal. Mutations in a single…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Boston-based Stealth BioTherapeutics Fast Track designation for its MTP-131 (also known as Bendavia) for the treatment of primary mitochondrial myopathy. Genetic mitochondrial diseases are a group of rare inherited disorders generally characterized by systemic mitochondrial dysfunction, impairing patients’ health and well-being. It…

A preliminary study found that patients with a newly identified form of mitochondria disease, called mitochondrial myopathy with episodic hyper-creatine kinase (CK)-emia (MIMECK), were able to ease their symptoms through L-arginine therapy. The study, “Clinical and Electron Microscopic Findings in Two Patients with Mitochondrial Myopathy Associated with Episodic Hyper-creatine…

Australian scientists from Deakin University and the University of New South Wales Australia found a rare genetic mutation in wild starlings that could help them understand mitochondrial disease in humans. The finding may also help shed light on how human populations respond and adapt to changes in the environment. The report,…

One-third of patients with anxiety disorders do not respond to currently available treatments, but researchers may have found a new way to help. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, Germany, reported that targeting the mitochondria appears to increase the effectiveness of anxiolytic treatments. Their report, titled…

A new study has identified mitochondrial dysfunction in satellite cells — a type of muscle stem cells — as a possible reason for the muscle weakness that often follows sepsis. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, also found a way to rescue mitochondrial dysfunction related to sepsis, restoring…

Cerebellar ataxia could be caused by problems with the mitochondria in about a quarter of all people with the disease, according to a new study. Researchers from Newcastle University and the Royal Hallamshire Hospital of Sheffield in the United Kingdom used muscle biopsies to identify mitochondrial mutations as a cause of the ataxia.