Researchers discover mitochondrial “circuit breaker” that protects heart from damage
Two newly identified mechanisms may lead to better understanding of disease, new treatments.
A team of scientists from the National Institutes of Health has discovered biological mechanisms that appear to prevent damage to the heart muscle’s “power grid,” the network of mitochondrial circuits that provide energy to cells. One of those mechanisms, the researchers found, acts much like a circuit breaker, allowing energy to continue moving throughout the heart muscle cells even when individual components of those cells—the mitochondria—have been damaged.
This page was last updated on Friday, January 21, 2022