UNC scientists solve mystery of how largest cellular motor protein powers movement
...ws dynein to transport cellular structures such as mitochondria that perform specific jobs such as energy generation, protein production and cell maintenance. Dynein also helps force apart chromosomes during cell division. Dividing cells must separate their chromosomes and something has to generate the force to ...Metabolic disorder underlies Huntington's disease
...n BAT that leads the cellular powerhouses known as mitochondria to generate heat instead of energy. In the BAT of hypothermic Huntington's mice, PGC-1 levels rose but failed to elicit the other events required to maintain normal body temperature, they found. The link to mitochondria-regulating PGC-1 led the tea...Scientists identify switch for brain's natural anti-oxidant defense
...hes for the first time that PGC-1a both drives the mitochondria to make energy and triggers the cleanup of toxic f...been shown both to rev up energy production in the mitochondria and to suppress the resulting free radicals, "this is an almost ideal protein to control or limit th...Other highlights in the October 18 JNCI
... Oxidative phosphorylation is the process by which mitochondria in the cell create useable energy. Tumor cells often produce energy through glycolysis, a type of glucose breakdown, rather than oxidative phosphorylation. Therefore, they can be resistant to programmed cell death under stressful conditions. The auth...Rising ocean temperatures, pollution have oysters in hot water
...mined the effect of cadmium and temperature on the mitochondria of the oyster's cells. The mitochondria are the cell's power plant, producing energy for the oyster, including for ventilation and circulati......e triphosphate, or ATP. Under normal conditions, mitochondria are able to make ATP extremely rapidly when the he...hnique could be of benefit in heart diseases where mitochondria cannot make enough ATP. When that happens the heart does not have enough energy to perform its funct...JCI table of contents: September 14, 2006
...pha, the number and energy burning function of the mitochondria in the muscle and fat cells increased and, most im...versely, the number and energy burning function of mitochondria in muscle and fat cells decreased after in vitro treatment with TNF-alpha. Because obesity is associ...Cholesterol implicated in progression of fatty liver disease
...Atorvastatin prevented the cholesterol increase in mitochondria and restored antioxidant levels, offering protection from liver damage. The new findings represent some of the first evidence for a role of cholesterol in delivering the "second hit" that leads to full-blown NASH, Fernandez-Checa said. Earlier st...Mitochondrial DNA sequencing tool updated
...ut the cell's cytoplasm. Hundreds to thousands of mitochondria exist in each human cell, occupying up to a quarte...s informally described as "cellular power plants," mitochondria convert organic materials into ATP, the cell's energy currency and without which life would cease. ...Jefferson scientists explain cancer cell metabolism changes
...etic priorities it allows it to shift from making mitochondria themselves to synthesizing DNA and making the cell... the individual cell's metabolism away from making mitochondria and towards cellular proliferation and the various genes involved in promoting such proliferation," ...UCLA chemists' study of protein may provide insights into heart disease and cancer
...hora of different disease-causing mutations. Human mitochondria have what can be considered four "rooms": a matrix...ker's yeast, which is a single-cell organism whose mitochondria are very similar to those of human cells, allows for sophisticated genetic experiments. "What we a...Research simplifies diagnosis of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
... energy suppliers. So, it's clear that the role of mitochondria in CMT2 needs to be studied further. This could be a key to better understanding this complex disorder. And a better understanding could be a first step toward treatment. But, for the time being, treatment is still a long way off....Computational model simulates AZT metabolism in mitochondria
...ferent ways that AZT could possibly interfere with mitochondria to cause the toxic side-effects. Our job is to model these proposed toxicity mechanisms to see which ones could actually lead to the mitochondrial defects found in AIDS patients." He added: "It is possible that no single mechanism is responsible for...Johns Hopkins researchers find link between cell's energy use and genome health
...osomes - rather than in the part of the cell - the mitochondria -- that harvests energy from sugar. But why would an enzyme involved in generating energy live in the "wrong" part of the cell? A closer look at the chromosomal and non-chromosomal parts of the cell showed that although the enzyme itself is found...Discovery of agile molecular motors could aid in treating motor neuron diseases
...ns studded along them, and cellular organelles and mitochondria are crammed in. The motor needs to maneuver around those 'obstructions.'" Goldman and Holzbaur suggest that the ability of the dynein-dynactin motor to move in both directions along the microtubule may provide the necessary maneuvering ability to all...Scientists identify protein with a crucial role in cell death
...heir work, cells need energy. And this is what the mitochondria − which convert oxygen into the necessary en...inner workings of a cell depend largely on how the mitochondria function. Therefore, it has been suspected that poorly functioning mitochondria can, among other thi...Genetics behind developmental brain disorders may play a wider role with congenital diseases
... bind with ATP -- the chemical fuel synthesized by mitochondria that give a cell its energy. Beta-actin is a structural protein that helps form the cytoskeleton -- a cell's skeleton that gives it structure and strength. Unable to receive fuel, the mutated beta-actin proteins break down, ultimately damaging and...Fat-generated hormone drives energetic capacity of muscle
...ns in the number of "cellular power plants" called mitochondria in skeletal muscle. The findings suggest that ther...hydrates, to generate usable energy. The number of mitochondria therefore influences the way that muscles function. For example, people who exercise regularly have ...Drug dials down the energy within cells, UM researchers find
...rules that we can apply to be able to modulate the mitochondria in new ways that could be therapeutic." Ultimately, the findings may have applications not only for lupus, arthritis and psoriasis, but also for other conditions, Glick believes. "There are other diseases---certain cancers and a number of other im...Attacking cancer's sweet tooth is effective strategy against tumors
...ndent ATP synthesis occurs, are defective. But the mitochondria of cancer cells appear to be mostly intact, which ...e the importance of the glycolytic switch. The mitochondria do display an intriguing difference, however. Normally, mitochondria turn glucose into ATP through ...