New Mitochondria study

[Seanko]

The ME Association is funding new study into mitochondria a& ME/CFS. The award has been Dr Karl Morten and Professor Joanna Poulton at the University of Oxford.
http://www.meassociation.org.uk/201...e-of-the-mitochondria-in-mecfs-10-march-2016/

[bimg=300|no-lightbox]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CdLcrzJUMAAKaye.jpg[/bimg]
ME Association to fund fourth study into the role of the mitochondria in ME/CFS

Is aberrant mitochondrial function a major player in CFS/ME?
Mitochondria are well known for their role as the ‘power house of the cell’. But they also have a diverse range of other functions.
These include a role in programming cell death, synthesis of cellular building blocks, cell-signalling and more recently a potential role in cellular immunity (West et al 2015).

Control of mitochondrial number, quality and structure is a highly regulated process varying between cells and tissues.
The fatigue seen in CFS/ME patients and the post-exertional malaise observed in the majority of patients has led to the proposal that a failure in the energy generation/supply system at a cellular level may play a role in the disease.

MEA project grant (5 months):

Establishing protocols to assess mitochondrial function in Neutrophils and Monocytes from ME/CFS patients.

The current pilot study is to set up the tests required to assess mitochondrial function in blood samples from ME/CFS patients.

For this we will use cell models with known mitochondrial dysfunction and bio-energetic impairment to both validate and improve on the tests developed by Acumen [2-4].

Our goal is to develop a method to assess mitochondrial function compatible with the widely used Seahorse Biosciences metabolic flux analyzer and plate based fluorescent probe oxygen and pH measuring platforms.

This will make the blood tests more globally accessible to a wide range of researchers allowing a more universal validation of the findings of Booth/Myhill.

Easy-to-understand information on mitochondria and mitochondrial disease:
www.mitoaction.org/mito-faq

 

[IrisRV]

This would be huge if they can pull it off!

I thought part of the problem with diagnosing acquired mitochondrial dysfunction was that mitochondria can be functioning differently in different tissues, so mitochondria could be normal in blood cells, but abnormal in heart muscle cells, for example.

It appears that Morten and Poulton are hypothesizing, based on Myhill's work, that there is mitochondrial dysfunction in very specific cells. If they are right, this will be tide-turning research. However, if the mitochondrial dysfunction is not in those particular cells, but in others, we may be back to the drawing board. Five months is not very long in research terms, so we may know how this pans out relatively quickly.

I suspect mitochondrial dysfuntion in ME, so I'm very excited about this research. Even if this particular, very focussed, research doesn't identify a critical problem, it is likely to lay groundwork for on-going mitochondrial research.

 

[Cort]

The ME Association is funding new study into mitochondria a& ME/CFS. The award has been Dr Karl Morten and Professor Joanna Poulton at the University of Oxford.
http://www.meassociation.org.uk/201...e-of-the-mitochondria-in-mecfs-10-march-2016/

[bimg=300|no-lightbox]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CdLcrzJUMAAKaye.jpg[/bimg]
ME Association to fund fourth study into the role of the mitochondria in ME/CFS

Is aberrant mitochondrial function a major player in CFS/ME?
Mitochondria are well known for their role as the ‘power house of the cell’. But they also have a diverse range of other functions.
These include a role in programming cell death, synthesis of cellular building blocks, cell-signalling and more recently a potential role in cellular immunity (West et al 2015).

Control of mitochondrial number, quality and structure is a highly regulated process varying between cells and tissues.
The fatigue seen in CFS/ME patients and the post-exertional malaise observed in the majority of patients has led to the proposal that a failure in the energy generation/supply system at a cellular level may play a role in the disease.

MEA project grant (5 months):

Establishing protocols to assess mitochondrial function in Neutrophils and Monocytes from ME/CFS patients.

The current pilot study is to set up the tests required to assess mitochondrial function in blood samples from ME/CFS patients.

For this we will use cell models with known mitochondrial dysfunction and bio-energetic impairment to both validate and improve on the tests developed by Acumen [2-4].

Our goal is to develop a method to assess mitochondrial function compatible with the widely used Seahorse Biosciences metabolic flux analyzer and plate based fluorescent probe oxygen and pH measuring platforms.

This will make the blood tests more globally accessible to a wide range of researchers allowing a more universal validation of the findings of Booth/Myhill.

Easy-to-understand information on mitochondria and mitochondrial disease:
www.mitoaction.org/mito-faq

So cool....

Hanson is continuing her work on mito functioning funded by the CFI.

Ron Davis thinks the mitochondria could be key....(Big NIH study is not studying them so far as I can tell). Ron thinks the mitochondria could be punking out in the immune cells - exactly that this study is going to measure.

Seanko is picking up all the good UK ME/CFS stuff.. .Muchas gracias!

 

[IrisRV]

Big NIH study is not studying them so far as I can tell

Which strikes me as very odd. Given the energy problems in ME/CFS, the mitochondria seem like a pretty obvious place to look. Why would they pass that over if they're doing a big study?

 

[Cort]

Which strikes me as very odd. Given the energy problems in ME/CFS, the mitochondria seem like a pretty obvious place to look. Why would they pass that over if they're doing a big study?

I don't know that there's that much expertise in the mitochondria over there actually. I could be wrong but I don;t think itochondrial research is that big of a deal in the research world. I think the reason for that is that most people associate mitochondrial problems with rare genetic diseases.

On the other hand there's a ton of infrastructure built up around immune and neurological problems. Plus Nath has a post-infectious disease neurological focus. So they gave the disease to him and he's focusing on neuro-immune issues.

 

[IrisRV]

Makes sense. So very, very little is known about mitochondrial diseases and even less about (possible) acquired mitochondrial diseases. Even if they aren't studying mitochondria, hopefully some of what they come up with add some clarity to the mitochondrial question -- assuming there is one.