The Latest Biology News And Medical NewsBiology News 2Health News 2Biology News 3Health News 3
HOME >> BIOLOGY >> NEWS
Getting old? Slowing down? Blame inefficient mitochondria

Mitochondria are the cell's equivalent of power stations. A power station burns fuel to build up steam pressure and uses that pressure to drive a turbine linked to a dynamo. This in turn generates electricity. In mitochondria, the fuel is oxidised and builds up a pressure of hydrogen ions (protons). These force through molecular turbines and enable the cell to generate ATP, an energy unit that can be used throughout the cell.

Just as you can work out a power station's efficiency by seeing how much electricity it produces for each unit of oxygen and fuel it burns, you can assess the efficiency of mitochondria by monitoring the amount of ATP produced for every unit of oxygen used.

Researchers from various departments of the University of Washington, Seattle, compared resting muscle cells from young (7-month) and old (30-month) mice. They found that old muscle used around half as much energy as young muscle, but that the mitochondria used just as much oxygen at both ages. This represents a 50% loss in efficiency.

"The best explanation for this loss of efficiency is that the mitochondria become leaky as they get old. Protons leak back into the mitochondria without making ATP, and so reduce the coupling between oxygen use and ATP production," says lead author David Marcinek, who works in the department of radiology.

This inefficiency means that elderly people's muscle produce less useable energy (ATP) for every unit of oxygen consumed, making normal activity seem more challenging and limiting their range of activities.


'"/>

Contact: Carol Huxley
chuxley@physoc.org
44-122-340-0185
Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
2-Dec-2005


Page: 1

Related biology news :

1. Getting to the root of plant growth
2. Getting to the core of an emergent public health threat
3. Getting dirty may lift your mood
4. Getting on your nerves ... and repairing them
5. Getting ones protein in a bunch -- When quality control fails in cells
6. Getting to the bottom of memory
7. Getting to the heart of the heart
8. Getting America really ready
9. Getting ahead of cancer: SPECT/Spiral CT technology enhances bone scanning, earlier diagnosis
10. Getting ACL tears to heal themselves
11. Getting an evolutionary handle on life after reproduction

Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
TAG: Getting old Slowing down Blame inefficient mitochondria

(Date:11/20/2009)...acterial gene into yeast, researchers from Delft U...d three improvements in bioethanol production from...acetate and elimination of the major by-product gl...he scientific journal Applied and Environmental M...e by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae from sugar...
(Date:11/20/2009)... of flax shives, and generated from Brassica cari...ich engulf fields in spring, can be used to produc...es carried out by Spanish and Dutch researchers an...ble Energy Reviews . , "These studies evaluate, f... of bioethanol from two, as yet unexploited source...
(Date:11/20/2009)...searchers report that a class of heart medications...ul, effect on the heart, depending on their molecu...journal Circulation Research , found that beta-bl...ors on the heart muscle offer the most benefit to ... beta-receptors can actually undermine the structu...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Delft breakthrough in bioethanol production from agricultural waste 2Flax and yellow flowers can produce bioethanol 2Carvedilol shown to have unique characteristics among beta blockers 2CVS Caremark Announces Results of 2009 Health IQ Study 54438 1CVS Caremark Announces Results of 2009 Health IQ Study 54438 2CVS Caremark Announces Results of 2009 Health IQ Study 54438 3AVMA Unveils Improved Online Press Room to Help Journalists 54435 1AVMA Unveils Improved Online Press Room to Help Journalists 54435 2AVMA Unveils Improved Online Press Room to Help Journalists 54435 3Perrigo Company Announces Quarterly Dividend 54432 1
(Date:11/20/2009)..., ROCKVILLE, Md., Nov. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -...hat it has priced an underwritten public offering ... to the public of $3.30 per share. The approximat...he underwriting discounts and commissions, will be...of our VLP-based vaccines, internal research and d...
(Date:11/19/2009)...ople would like to be able to charge their cell ph...t too often. A recent discovery made by UC San Die...upercapacitors that could do just this. , In re...rs , Prabhakar Bandaru, a professor in the UCSD De...along with graduate student Mark Hoefer, have foun...
(Date:11/19/2009)...NEW YORK, Nov. 19 NeoSte...t has sent the following letter to its shareholder...r 30, 2009, of China Biopharmaceuticals Holdings, ...any based in the People,s Republic of China. The m...Suzhou Eyre Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., CHBP,s primar...
(Date:11/19/2009)... Top LASIK surgeons and recognized r...rusted LASIK Surgeons made brought their fellow su...sion correction surgery, cataract surgery, and oph...erican Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meeti...trom, Dr. Shachar Tauber, Dr. David Huang, MD, Dr....
Breaking Biology Technology:Novavax Prices Public Offering of Common Stock 2Nanotube defects equal better energy and storage systems 2NeoStem Outlines to Shareholders Near-term and Long-term Business Strategies Following Acquisition of Chinese Pharmaceutical Company 2NeoStem Outlines to Shareholders Near-term and Long-term Business Strategies Following Acquisition of Chinese Pharmaceutical Company 3Experts Listed at Trusted LASIK Surgeons Bring Peers Up to Date on Vision Correction and Cataract Surgery at Annual AAO Meeting 2Experts Listed at Trusted LASIK Surgeons Bring Peers Up to Date on Vision Correction and Cataract Surgery at Annual AAO Meeting 3Experts Listed at Trusted LASIK Surgeons Bring Peers Up to Date on Vision Correction and Cataract Surgery at Annual AAO Meeting 4Experts Listed at Trusted LASIK Surgeons Bring Peers Up to Date on Vision Correction and Cataract Surgery at Annual AAO Meeting 5Experts Listed at Trusted LASIK Surgeons Bring Peers Up to Date on Vision Correction and Cataract Surgery at Annual AAO Meeting 6Experts Listed at Trusted LASIK Surgeons Bring Peers Up to Date on Vision Correction and Cataract Surgery at Annual AAO Meeting 7Experts Listed at Trusted LASIK Surgeons Bring Peers Up to Date on Vision Correction and Cataract Surgery at Annual AAO Meeting 8Experts Listed at Trusted LASIK Surgeons Bring Peers Up to Date on Vision Correction and Cataract Surgery at Annual AAO Meeting 9
Other News:
... monkeys were asked to manipulate computer cursors...ain's "executive" center plans behaviors not by sp... rather the events that will result from those act...e researchers, because it yields new basic insight...
...sh healthy? To answer this, Sea Grant biologists a...parasitic worms. Their claim: the more parasites, ...ypothesis may conflict with conventional ideas abo...or example, is caused by a parasite), the worms th...
HOUSTON -- (May 19, 2006) In the 1990s, the notion of "six degrees of separation" emphasized human linkages that connected people around the world. ......Now, the same concept provides clues to unrav
... Jimmy Fox isn't typical of a person with the gene...ta (OI). He lifts weights almost daily, participat...joys hunting in rough backcountry.......Still, Fox...op in Cloverdale, Ore., is eager to participate in...
The brain's executive is an 'event planner' 2How healthy is that marsh? Biologists count parasites 2How healthy is that marsh? Biologists count parasites 3Protein connections: A network to understand disease 2Protein connections: A network to understand disease 3OHSU studying drug for bone-deforming disorder 2OHSU studying drug for bone-deforming disorder 3
...ain how marine organisms use spines for more than ... 7 during the annual meeting of the Geological Soc...son Jones, a doctoral candidate in the UC geology ...ida Keys looking at how spines and other shell dec...
...orbed all of the carbon...released by deforestatio...l fuel burning during the 1990s, but we can't rely...rming in the future, according...to a new study pu...dioxide (CO2) is the primary greenhouse gas enteri...
If you want the health benefits of antioxidants but hate broccoli, then pucker up: A new study shows that cranberries may be better for you. ......An antioxidant comparison of some of the most common
...al Nature provides a new global view of terrestria...sinks cannot be counted on to mop up carbon dioxid...tential implications for the Kyoto Protocol negoti...ack of scientific knowledge about the strength and...
Geologists find spines make comfy home for some marine organisms 2Ecosystems slowed 1990s greenhouse gas buildup 2Ecosystems slowed 1990s greenhouse gas buildup 3Holiday fruit ranks number one in antioxidants 2Holiday fruit ranks number one in antioxidants 3Land wont soak up carbon indefinitely say top scientists 2Land wont soak up carbon indefinitely say top scientists 3