Endurance exercise-training results in an increase in the size and number of mitochondria in the skeletal muscles that are involved in the exercise. In early studies of this phenomenon, long-term training programs of progressively increasing intensity and duration were used. These studies gave the impression that the adaptive increase in mitochondria is a slow process. Recent advances in the un...

Miller MW, Knaub LA, Olivera-Fragoso LF, Keller AC, Balasubramaniam V, Watson PA, Reusch JE. Nitric oxide regulates vascular adaptive mitochondrial dynamics. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 304: H1624–H1633, 2013. First published April 12, 2013; doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00987.2012.—Cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity, and physical inactivity, a...

Friedreich ataxia (FRDA), the most common recessive inherited ataxia, results from deficiency of frataxin, a small mitochondrial protein crucial for iron-sulphur cluster formation and ATP production. Frataxin deficiency is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction in FRDA patients and animal models; however, early mitochondrial pathology in FRDA cerebellum remains elusive. Using frataxin knock-...

Mitophagy occurs during ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) and limits oxidative stress and injury. Mitochondrial turnover was assessed in patients undergoing cardiac surgery involving cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Paired biopsies of right atrial appendage before initiation and after weaning from CPB were processed for protein analysis, mitochondrial DNA/nuclear DNA ratio (mtDNA:nucDNA ratio), mtDNA dam...

Recent evidence has identified the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor coactivator-1 (PGC-1 ) as a regulator of cardiac energy metabolism and mitochondrial biogenesis. We describe the development of a transgenic system that permits inducible, cardiac-specific overexpression of PGC-1 . Expression of the PGC-1 transgene in this system (tet-on PGC-1 ) is cardiac-specific in the presence of ...

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that improved mitochondrial biogenesis could help reducing ischemic cerebral injury. We found that levels of proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α and nuclear respiratory factor-1, mitochondrial DNA content and other markers of mitochondrial biogenesis and function were reduced in primary mouse cortical neurons under oxygen-glucose depri...

2,3,5,4'-Tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-β-D-glucoside (TSG), an important monomer extracted from Polygonum multiflorum, can prevent a number of inflammation associated chronic diseases. However, the mechanism involved in TSG inducing anti-inflammatory role remains unclear. As an inducible antioxidant enzyme, Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), is crucial for protecting the mammalian cells against adverse stimul...

The abundance, morphology, and functional properties of mitochondria decay in skeletal muscle during the process of ageing. Although the precise mechanisms remain to be elucidated, these mechanisms include decreased mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) repair and mitochondrial biogenesis. Mitochondria possess their own protection system to repair mtDNA damage, which leads to defects of mtDNA-encoded gene ...

Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMK) activation induces mitochondrial biogenesis in response to increasing cytosolic calcium concentrations. Calcium leak from the ryanodine receptor (RyR) is regulated by reactive oxygen species (ROS), which is increased with high-fat feeding. We examined whether ROS-induced CaMKII-mediated signaling induced skeletal muscle mitochondrial biogenesis...

Growing evidence indicates that PPARγ agonists, including rosiglitazone (RSG), induce adipose mitochondrial biogenesis. By systematically analyzing mitochondrial gene expression in two common murine adipocyte models, the current study aimed to further establish the direct role of RSG and capture temporal changes in gene transcription. Microarray profiling revealed that in fully differentiated 3...