Cells respond to the presence of DNA in the cytoplasm with inflammatory signaling, an evolved innate immune response that serves to protect against viral and bacterial infection. This becomes a problem when mitochondria become dysfunctional, as mitochondria contain their own small genome, the mitochondrial DNA. In the context of age-related mitochondrial dysfunction, and a number of other circumstances, fragments of mitochondrial DNA can find their way into the cell cytoplasm. The result is a link between mitochondrial dysfunction and the <a href="https://www.fightagin…
A Way in Which Mitochondrial DNA Becomes Misplaced, Provoking Inflammation
Cells respond to the presence of DNA in the cytoplasm with inflammatory signaling, an evolved innate immune response that serves to protect against viral and bacterial infection. This becomes a problem when mitochondria become dysfunctional, as mitochondria contain their own small genome, the mitochondrial DNA. In the context of age-related mitochondrial dysfunction, and a number of other circumstances, fragments of mitochondrial DNA can find their way into the cell cytoplasm. The result is a link between mitochondrial dysfunction and the <a href="https://www.fightagin…