How Mitochondria Control Health and Disease in Your Cells
- Authors
- Volker Schirrmacher
- Journal
- Biomedicines
- Year
- 2020
- DOI
- 10.3390/biomedicines8110526
- Study Type
- clinical
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Germany
- Health Condition
- Cardiovascular Disease
- Body System
- Cardiovascular
TL;DR
Mitochondria are the power plants inside our cells, and when they stop working right, they cause big diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Scientists found that if we can fix how mitochondria work or help our immune system fight cancer better, we might be able to treat these serious diseases.
Key Finding
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Summary
This extensive review analyzed 156 recent publications examining mitochondrial function in health and disease. Researchers found that mitochondria can reprogram between energy supply and metabolic functions to meet cellular needs. Mitochondrial dysfunction underlies major chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, neurodegenerative conditions, immune disorders, and cancer. The study particularly highlighted competition between cancer cells and immune cells for energy resources in tumor environments. Researchers demonstrated successful reversal of cancer cachexia through immune cell transfer, suggesting new therapeutic approaches targeting mitochondrial function and cellular metabolism for treating chronic diseases.
Abstract
Mitochondria are of great relevance to health, and their dysregulation is associated with major chronic diseases. Research on mitochondria-156 brand new publications from 2019 and 2020-have contributed to this review. Mitochondria have been fundamental for the evolution of complex organisms. As important and semi-autonomous organelles in cells, they can adapt their function to the needs of the respective organ. They can program their function to energy supply (e.g., to keep heart muscle cells going, life-long) or to metabolism (e.g., to support hepatocytes and liver function). The capacity of mitochondria to re-program between different options is important for all cell types that are capable of changing between a resting state and cell proliferation, such as stem cells and immune cells. Major chronic diseases are characterized by mitochondrial dysregulation. This will be exemplified by cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, neurodegenerative diseases, immune system disorders, and cancer. New strategies for intervention in chronic diseases will be presented. The tumor microenvironment can be considered a battlefield between cancer and immune defense, competing for energy supply and metabolism. Cancer cachexia is considered as a final stage of cancer progression. Nevertheless, the review will present an example of complete remission of cachexia via immune cell transfer. These findings should encourage studies along the lines of mitochondria, energy supply, and metabolism.