Several U.S.-based organizations are launching a network to unify physicians who treat people with mitochondrial disease. The goal is to design better treatment guidelines and clinical priorities, and improve standards of care for patients. The governance board of the Mitochondrial Care Network is looking to work with a diverse…

Mitochondria genetics may be more complex than previously thought, with new research reporting that DNA content can vary significantly among different mitochondria within a single cell, and between mice and people — a finding of potential importance to research that relies on mouse models of disease. The work may also…

Defective cellular energy production by mitochondria can result from abnormal expression of enzymes involved in the synthesis of the essential co-factor coenzyme Q, a study with mice revealed. This finding resulted from the collaborative work between researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, in Germany, and at…

Determining the respiratory chain enzyme activity in kidney tissue samples could provide useful information for diagnosing mitochondrial dysfunction in children with renal impairment, according to a report in the Journal of Clinical Medicine. Diseases stemming from mitochondrial dysfunction can be difficult to diagnose because of symptoms similar to other…

Stealth BioTherapeutics‘ investigational medicine elamipretide, formerly known as Bendavia, has been granted orphan drug status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) for the treatment of primary mitochondrial myopathy (PMM). Stealth specializes in the development of drug candidates for mitochondrial disease treatment. The FDA’s Office of Orphan…

Researchers have found more than 60 mitochondrial biomarkers that can be used to predict tumor recurrence in breast cancer patients who were previously treated with tamoxifen, according to a new study. This finding not only opens new possibilities to identify high-risk patients for cancer recurrence, allowing…

One film tells a story written by Rina Goldberg, the exuberant Philadelphia teenager who never gave up on life — even after mitochondrial disease left her unable to walk, read, remember the past and, finally, to breathe. The other is a sobering, seven-minute look at mitochondrial disease from the perspective…

Mitochondrial disorders often affect several organs, but symptoms are more likely to be evident in organs like the heart that are most dependent on oxidative metabolism — the use of oxygen to convert sugars to energy. But while the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac problems related to mitochondrial disease is advancing, it still falls…