Every cell contains hundreds of mitochondria, the descendants of ancient symbiotic bacteria that are primarily responsible for generating adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a chemical energy store molecule used to power the cell. Mitochondrial function declines with age, negatively impacting health, and thus researchers are interested in finding ways to either enhance function to compensate for this decline or find ways to prevent and reverse the loss of mitochondrial activity. Most currently available approaches fail to much improve on the effects of exercise on this front, and appear to largely work by improving quality control mechanisms that have evolved to remove damaged mitochondria. Here, researchers report on a novel target t…
PP2A-B55α as a Target to Improve Mitochondrial Function
Every cell contains hundreds of mitochondria, the descendants of ancient symbiotic bacteria that are primarily responsible for generating adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a chemical energy store molecule used to power the cell. Mitochondrial function declines with age, negatively impacting health, and thus researchers are interested in finding ways to either enhance function to compensate for this decline or find ways to prevent and reverse the loss of mitochondrial activity. Most currently available approaches fail to much improve on the effects of exercise on this front, and appear to largely work by improving quality control mechanisms that have evolved to remove damaged mitochondria. Here, researchers report on a novel target t…