Cellular “power plants” control inflammation

Researchers discover how mitochondria not only produce energy but also influence inflammation

28-Nov-2024 - Whether cells in the human body survive or die under stress depends, among other things, on their mitochondria. Scientists at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Freiburg have now shown that a sudden stop in energy production in these cell “power plants” prevents normal cell death or ...

A giant called MIMAS in the cell power plants

Mega protein complex with surprising properties discovered in mitochondria

12-Mar-2024 - Mitochondria provide the majority of the body's energy supply and are considered the power plants of the cells. The energy comes from cellular respiration, in which metabolic products are burned in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Mitochondria also play an important role in the metabolism of ...

How cells control mitochondria

Researchers discover a signaling protein that controls the assembly of human cellular “power plants”

16-Jul-2021 - Errors in the metabolic processes of mitochondria are responsible for a variety of diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Scientists needed to find out just how the necessary building blocks are imported into the complex biochemical apparatus of these cell areas. The TOM complex ...

Closing the gate to mitochondria

11-May-2017 - Eukaryotic cells contain thousands of proteins, which are distributed to different cellular compartments with specific functions. A German-Swiss team of scientists led by Prof. Dr. Bettina Warscheid from the University of Freiburg and Prof. Dr. André Schneider from the University of Bern has ...

Evolution of Cellular Power Stations

The protein OXA plays an important role in integrating protein molecules into mitochondria

19-May-2016 - Mitochondria are the power stations of human cells. They provide the energy needed for the cellular metabolism. But how did these power stations evolve, and how are they constructed? Researchers from the University of Freiburg studied the role of so-called oxidase assembly machinery, or OXA, in ...

Building Scaffolds in the Cell’s Power Stations

Researchers at the University of Freiburg discover a basic architectural principle of mitochondria

08-May-2015 - A group of scientists led by Assistant Professor Dr. Martin van der Laan has decoded the molecular basis for the characteristic structures inside of mitochondria. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells and contain microscopic, strongly infolded membrane structures. These structures allow ...

How Alzheimer’s Peptides Shut Down Cellular Powerhouses

Biochemists discover new mechanisms of the brain disease

02-Sep-2014 - The failing in the work of nerve cells: An international team of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Chris Meisinger from the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the University of Freiburg has discovered how Alzheimer’s disease damages mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell. For ...

Mitochondria Separate Their Waste

Freiburg researcher shows that cellular power plants collect and break down damaged molecules

03-Dec-2013 - In order to protect themselves from harmful substances, cells need to keep the mitochondria – the boiler room, so to speak – shipshape. Up to now, it was unclear whether this housekeeping work involves sorting out defective proteins when they digest mitochondria. Dr. Joern Dengjel from the Center ...

Tom22, the bouncer of the mitochondrion

Freiburg researcher discovers three signalling pathways that regulate the gates to the powerhouses of the cell

07-Oct-2013 - Mitochondria burn sugar and supply the cell with energy. They were long thought to be structures that are relatively independent of the cell. However, Carolin Gerbeth, a PhD student from the trinational research training group “Membrane Proteins and Biological Membranes,” has now identified no ...

Protein team produces molecular barrels

Researchers show that two protein machineries collaborate on the development of barrel structures in the mitochondria

06-Aug-2013 - Research groups headed by Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Pfanner, Dr. Nils Wiedemann, and Dr. Thomas Becker from the University of Freiburg and their colleagues have demonstrated how molecular protein barrels form in the outer membrane of the mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell. Their studies revealed ...