Beyond the Disease

In this MitoWorld “Spotlight,” Life Sciences reporter Daniel Levine interviews Dr. Craig Thompson of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). Thompson’s lab focuses on the role that metabolic changes play in the origin and progression of cancer. Thompson led MSKCC as President and CEO from 2010 to 2022.

In Specialization among Mitochondria, MitoWorld editor Gary Howard writes about the discovery that Dr. Craig Thompson of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and his team made about a new form of mitochondria. The discovery opens up even more properties and complexities of mitochondria.

In Mitochondria and Diabetes, MitoWorld editor Gary Howard writes about the research of a University of Michigan team led by Scott Soleimanpour, MD and Emily M. Walker, PhD. The team is exploring the connection between diabetes and mitochondria that is prevalent in rising levels of Type 2 Diabetes.

In It Takes a Village, MitoWorld editor Gary Howard writes about new work from the Lab of Aleksandra Filipovska at the University of West Australia, which examines the supporting interactions of the organelles and messengers that support mitochondrial functions. This complex interplay of cellular activity is necessary to fully understand mitochondria.

In Fixing Mitochondria, MitoWorld editor Gary Howard writes about the work of University of Miami researcher Carlos Moraes, which explores the complexities and insights from experiments
to affect mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Moraes lab looks deeply into the potential of mtDNA editing and into interactions with nuclear DNA (nDNA).

Surprise finding reveals mitochondrial ‘energy factories’ come in two different types, published in Nature, provides an interview with world-class researcher Craig Thompson of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Thompson and team discovered that mitochondria specialize into two distinct classes in times of starvation.

In “Jumping Numts“, published in Scientific American, Columbia’s Martin Picard and colleagues explore for the first time how mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can be transmitted and integrated into nuclear DNA (nDNA) with potentially ill effects.

“Great Balls of Fire,” published in the FEBS Journal, investigates the temperature of mitochondria in cells, which is considerably higher than the surrounding cell. Lead author Howy Jacobs of Tampere University, Finland, is interviewed [Link] by MitoWorld editor, Gary Howard.

In this MitoWorld “Spotlight,” Life Sciences reporter Daniel Levine interviews Navdeep Chandel, PhD, David W. Cugell Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry, and Molecular Genetics at Northwestern University, about how the field of mitochondrial sciences is evolving and the need for greater investment to unlock treatments.

Creating the accepted language of mitochondrial transfer and transplantation is contained in a Consensus Statement published in Nature Metabolism, January 16, 2024, entitled, “Recommendations for mitochondria transfer and transplantation nomenclature and characterization.” Dr. Jon Brestoff of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and co-chair Keshav Singh, Department of Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, led a team of 31 investigators from 13 countries to an agreement on recommended language to describe the rising field of naturally occurring mitochondria transfer between cells and external transplantation of mitochondria into cells, tissue and organs. Dr. Brestoff said, “The purpose of this article was to bring together experts in mitochondria transfer and transplantation and on mitochondria biology from around the world to make recommendations about terminology and characterization standards for the field’s benefit.”