New finding: "Mitochondria are flinging their DNA into our brain cells."

Columbia University Irving Medical Center. (2024, August 22). Mitochondria are flinging their DNA into our brain cells. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 1, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240822142624.htm

Stunning finding: "Mitochondria in our brain cells frequently fling their DNA into the nucleus, the study found, where the DNA becomes integrated into the cells' chromosomes. And these insertions may be causing harm: Among the study's nearly 1,200 participants, those with more mitochondrial DNA insertions in their brain cells were more likely to die earlier than those with fewer insertions."

Quote from the article: "Mitochondria are cellular processors and a mighty signaling platform," Picard says. "We knew they can control which genes are turned on or off. Now we know mitochondria can even change the nuclear DNA sequence itself."

Open Access Article Source: Somatic nuclear mitochondrial DNA insertions are prevalent in the human brain and accumulate over time in fibroblasts
Zhou W, Karan KR, Gu W, Klein HU, Sturm G, et al. (2024) Somatic nuclear mitochondrial DNA insertions are prevalent in the human brain and accumulate over time in fibroblasts. PLOS Biology 22(8): e3002723. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002723