Mitochondrial Treatment Target Identified

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
Lots of movement in the mitochondrial field.
Researchers were able to identify a factor in the mitochrondria that starts eating up ATP when the mitochondria become starved of oxygen and sugar. Blood vessel problems and autonomic nervous system dysfunction could be causing that scenario to occur in chronic fatigue syndrome.

Mitochondrial defects are often observed in a variety of diseases, including cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease, and are the hallmarks of a number of genetic mitochondrial disorders whose manifestations range from muscle weakness to organ failure. Despite a fairly strong understanding of the pathology of such genetic mitochondrial disorders, efforts to treat them have been largely ineffective.

" ATPIF1 is part of a backup system to save starving cells. When cells are deprived of oxygen and sugars, a mitochondrial complex that usually produces ATP, called ATP synthase, switches to consuming it, a state that can be harmful to an already starving cell. ATPIF1 interacts with ATP synthase to shut it down and prevent it from consuming the mitochondrion's dwindling ATP supply but, in the process, also worsens the mitochondrion's membrane potential.

"In these diseases of mitochondrial dysfunction, in a sense, it's a false starvation situation for the cell -- there are plenty of nutrients, but because there's a block in the mitochondria's normal function, the mitochondria behave as if there's not enough oxygen," says Chen, who with Birsoy, authored a paper in the journal Cell Reports describing this work. "So in these situations, activation of ATPIF1 is not good, because there are still many nutrients around to provide ATP. Instead, blocking ATPIF1 is therapeutic because it allows for maintenance of the membrane potential."
 

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