Alpha-ketoglutarate, a key intermediate in the Krebs cycle, has been reported to benefit intestinal health. We tested whether alpha-ketoglutarate can protect intestinal cells against hydrogen peroxide induced damage and aimed to reveal the underlying mechanism. Intestinal porcine epithelial cell line J2 were cultured in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium-High glucose with or without alpha-ketoglu...

Background and Objective: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder which is associated with extracellular accumulation of amyloid beta (Aβ) plaques. AD is accompanied by mitochondrial dysfunction and energy metabolism reduction. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is an endogenous polypeptide which its beneficial effects have been demonstrated on mitochondrial function, energy m...

In this study the effect of cryoprotectants that have been shown to be the least toxic to zebrafish ovarian follicles (methanol and Me(2)SO), on mitochondria of stage III ovarian follicles was evaluated. The mitochondrial distributional arrangement, mitochondrial membrane potential, mtDNA copy number, ATP levels and ADP/ATP ratios were assessed following exposure to cryoprotectants for 30 min a...

Reciprocal crosses between species can yield hybrids with different viabilities. The high frequency of this asymmetric hybrid viability ("Darwin's corollary") places it alongside Haldane's rule and the "large-X effect" as a general feature of postmating reproductive isolation. Recent theory suggests that reciprocal cross asymmetries can arise from stochastic substitutions in uniparentally inher...

BACKGROUND Sodium arsenite can impair male reproductive function by inducing oxidative stress. Silymarin is known as a potent antioxidant. OBJECTIVE This study was performed to investigate if silymarin can prevent the adverse effect of sodium arsenite on ram sperm viability, motility and mitochondrial membrane potential. MATERIALS AND METHODS Epidydimal spermatozoa obtained from ram were di...

Bufalin, a digoxin-like active component of the traditional Chinese medicine Chan Su, exhibits potent antitumor activities in many human cancers. Bufalin induces mitochondria-dependent apoptosis in cancer cells, but the detailed molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. hTERT, the catalytic subunit of telomerase, protects against mitochondrial damage by binding to mitochondrial DNA and reducing...

BACKGROUND The effects of cryoinjury were determined simultaneously on the mitochondrial function, motility, morphology and viability of ejaculated human sperm. METHOD Rhodamine 123 (R123) uptake (% of sperm) and stain intensity were used to determine sperm mitochondrial activity before and after cryopreservation from the semen of 50 men attending for infertility investigation. Morphology was...

Striatal neuron death in Huntington's disease is associated with abnormal mitochondrial dynamics and functions. However, the mechanisms for this mitochondrial dysregulation remain elusive. Increased accumulation of Huntingtin-associated protein 40 (HAP40) has been shown to be associated with Huntington's disease. However, the link between increased HAP40 and Huntington's disease remains largely...