From: CurtAdams@aol.com
Date: Tue Nov 10 1998 - 09:30:50 MST
In a message dated 11/10/98 12:47:13 AM, GBurch1@aol.com wrote:
>Thanks -- does that mean we could insert foreign mitochondria into mature
>cells?
In theory, yes. But delivering foreign mitochondria is a fearsomely difficult
task. They're big, they're numerous, and they're everywhere. Your best bet
would be in giant cells like sensory/motor neurons and muscle fibers - which,
fortunately, is probably where they'd be of most use. You'd need to introduce
fixed or foreign mitochondria to an accessible spot on the cell and then
provide it with a selective advantage over the residents. Of course, you
don't want to harm all resident mitochondria as that would really harm
cells that aren't infected (most, by almost any method) One idea would
be for the introduced mitochondria to convert an administered drug into
something toxic to other mitochondria.
>Is this a shortcut to rev up metabolism?
Not in general. Mitochondria only encode a very few proteins critical for
aerobic metabolism. You're not going to be able to improve on them, and
the control is from nuclear genes. You could use introduced mitochondria
to replace damaged mitochondria in long-lived cells; accumulated mitochondrial
damage is one hypothesis for the aging of non-dividing cells like
nerves and muscle.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 14:49:45 MST