#mitochondria
In a new study published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, scientists from the University of Guelph have found that exercise has the potential to decrease toxic build-up in the brain, reducing the severity of brain disorders such as Huntington’s disease.
Glutamate, an amino acid that is one of the twenty amino acids used to construct proteins, is used by the brain to transmit signals, but too much glutamate blocks future signals and can lead to toxicity in the brain. Since the majority of the brain relies on glutamate as the main neurotransmitter for communication between neural cells, it is essential that glutamate is reabsorbed and disposed of to prevent blockage. While glutamate reuptake is a normal process for healthy brains, several diseases such as Huntington’s disease, ALS, and epilepsy result in either failed reuptake of glutamate or high levels of glutamate in the brain. This can lead to unwanted and in some cases excessive stimulation of neighbouring cells which can worsen the disease.
The findings of this study show that exercise has the potential to increase the use of glutamate in the brain and may help reduce the toxicity caused by glutamate build-up in these diseases. “As we all know, exercise is healthy for the rest of the body and our study suggests that exercise may present an excellent option for reducing the severity of brain disorders” says Dr. Eric Herbst, lead author of the study. “Taking into account that there are no cures for neurodegenerative diseases where glutamate is implicated, this study offers another example of the benefits of exercise for our brains” continued Dr. Herbst. “In short, these findings offer another reason to exercise with the aim of either preventing or slowing the neurodegeneration caused by these disorders”.
The findings of this study are of particular importance to other researchers exploring different approaches to treating brain disorders. The main approaches to treating neurodegenerative diseases are hindered by the need to produce drugs that both have the intended effect for treating the disease and are also able to pass the blood brain barrier. Through the use of exercise, the brain can direct glutamate to be used as an energy source to dispose of excess amounts of the neurotransmitter, without relying on the difficult development of pharmaceuticals. Identifying and targeting the mechanisms that increase glutamate metabolism in the brain may also provide the medical field with additional ways of treating problems within the brain. How the findings of this study translates to people affected by neurodegenerative diseases still needs exploring and is an important next step.
How a Parkinson’s disease-linked protein attacks a cell’s powerhouses
Inside cells, organelles called mitochondria carry out a medley of vital tasks. These structures generate energy and help to keep the cells’ interior environment in a state of healthy equilibrium, among other functions.
Now, scientists show how a protein associated with Parkinson’s disease can damage these cellular powerhouses.
The findings come from experiments in which fruit fly larvae were genetically engineered to produce unusually high amounts of the protein, called alpha-synuclein.
“When fruit fly larvae expressed alpha-synuclein at elevated levels similar to what is seen in Parkinson’s disease, many of the mitochondria we observed became unhealthy, and many became fragmented. Through detailed experiments, we also showed that different parts of the alpha-synuclein protein seem to be responsible for these two problems, and that fragmented mitochondria can actually be healthy. This is a key finding, because before, people thought fragmented mitochondria were unhealthy mitochondria,” says Shermali Gunawardena, PhD, associate professor of biological sciences in the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences.
The results could be of interest in the context of drug development, as abnormal aggregates of alpha-synuclein in brain cells are a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease, and mitochondrial damage has also been observed in patients.
“This research showcases the advantage of using fruit fly larvae as a model organism to study how neurons become damaged during devastating diseases such as Parkinson’s disease,” says TJ Krzystek, UB PhD candidate in biological sciences. “Through this approach, we pieced together a new understanding for how the Parkinson’s disease-related protein alpha-synuclein disrupts the health and movement of mitochondria — the epicenter for energy production in cells. We believe this work emphasizes a promising path that can be explored for potential therapeutics aimed at improving mitochondrial health in Parkinson’s disease patients.”
The study was published in the journal Cell Death and Disease.
The co-first authors are Krzystek and Rupkatha Banerjee, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate at Scripps Research who completed her doctorate in biological sciences at UB. Gunawardena is the senior author.
The research was a collaborative effort, with many members of the Gunawardena lab making significant contributions. In addition to Banerjee, Gunawardena and Krzystek, the paper’s authors include undergraduates Layne Thurston, JianQiao Huang and Saad Navid Rahman, and PhD student Kelsey Swinter, all in the UB Department of Biological Sciences, and Tomas L. Falzone at the Universidad de Buenos Aires and Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires.
A detailed look at alpha-synuclein and mitochondria
Through tests in fruit fly larvae, the scientists were able to tease out intricate details regarding interactions between alpha-synuclein and mitochondria.
For example, the study not only concludes that different sections of the alpha-synuclein protein are likely responsible for causing mitochondrial fragmentation and damaging mitochondrial health; the research also identifies these sections and describes how other proteins may interact with them to drive these changes. More specifically, the proteins PINK1 and Parkin — both linked to Parkinson’s disease — may interact with one end of alpha-synuclein to influence mitochondrial health, while a protein called DRP1 may interact with the other end to break mitochondria, scientists say.
“Mitochondrial impairments have long been linked to the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease,” Banerjee says. “However, the role of alpha-synuclein in mitochondrial quality control so far has not been comprehensively investigated. Our study unravels the intricate molecular mechanisms by which the different regions of alpha-synuclein exert distinct effects on mitochondrial health, bringing into light a potential pathway that could be targeted for exploring new therapeutic interventions in Parkinson’s disease.”
“We were able to tease out specific mechanistic functions for alpha synuclein by using imaging tools and a color-tagged marking system to observe the process of what happens to mitochondria when alpha-synuclein is elevated,” Gunawardena adds. “This system allowed us to observe the health, size and the movement behaviors of mitochondria at the same time in living neurons in a whole organism.”
(Image caption: Unhealthy mitochondria are marked in a gradient from white to red, with white being the least healthy, in contrast to healthy mitochondria that appear in blue. This still image is from a microscope video showing mitochondria moving in a fruit fly larval neuron expressing elevated levels of the protein alpha-synuclein. Credit: TJ Krzystek and Shermali Gunawardena)
SAY IT WITH ME
- the mitochondria are not “deep”
- the mitochondria are not “quirky”
- the mitochondria are the fucking powerhouse of the cell
- STOP ROMANTICIZING MITOCHONDRIA
You can’t stop me
what
P A S T E L M E T A B O L I S M
follow for more soft kreb cycle
and that’s on the periodic table of elements
“Morpheme is the Smallest Meaningful Unit in a Language“
is the linguistic equivalent of
“Mitochondria is the Powerhouse of the Cell”