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Mitochondrial Biogenesis
Mitochondrial biogenesis is the process by which cells increase mitochondrial numbers. It was first described by John Holloszy in the 1960s, when it was discovered that physical endurance training induced higher mitochondrial content levels, leading to greater glucose uptake by muscles. Mitochondrial biogenesis is activated by numerous different signals during times of cellular stress or in response to environmental stimuli, such as aerobic exercise. Background The ability for a mitochondrion to self-replicate is rooted in its evolutionary history. It is commonly thought that mitochondria descend from cells that formed endosymbiotic relationships with α-protobacteria; they have their own genome for replication. However, recent evidence suggests that mitochondria may have evolved without symbiosis. The mitochondrion is a key regulator of the metabolic activity of the cell, and is also an important organelle in both production and degradation of free radicals. It is postulated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mitochondria
A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used throughout the cell as a source of chemical energy. They were discovered by Albert von Kölliker in 1857 in the voluntary muscles of insects. The term ''mitochondrion'' was coined by Carl Benda in 1898. The mitochondrion is popularly nicknamed the "powerhouse of the cell", a phrase coined by Philip Siekevitz in a 1957 article of the same name. Some cells in some multicellular organisms lack mitochondria (for example, mature mammalian red blood cells). A large number of unicellular organisms, such as microsporidia, parabasalids and diplomonads, have reduced or transformed their mitochondria into other structures. One eukaryote, ''Monocercomonoides'', is known to have completely lost its mitochondria, and one multicellular organism, ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dynamin-like 120 KDa Protein
Dynamin-like 120 kDa protein, mitochondrial is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''OPA1'' gene. This protein regulates mitochondrial fusion and cristae structure in the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) and contributes to ATP synthesis and apoptosis, and small, round mitochondria. Mutations in this gene have been implicated in dominant optic atrophy (DOA), leading to loss in vision, hearing, muscle contraction, and related dysfunctions. Structure Eight transcript variants encoding different isoforms, resulting from alternative splicing of exon 4 and two novel exons named 4b and 5b, have been reported for this gene. They fall under two types of isoforms: long isoforms (L-OPA1), which attach to the IMM, and short isoforms (S-OPA1), which localize to the intermembrane space (IMS) near the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM). S-OPA1 is formed by proteolysis of L-OPA1 at the cleavage sites S1 and S2, removing the transmembrane domain. Function This gene product is a nuc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Estrogen-related Receptor Alpha
Estrogen-related receptor alpha (ERRα), also known as NR3B1 (nuclear receptor subfamily 3, group B, member 1), is a nuclear receptor that in humans is encoded by the ''ESRRA'' (Estrogen Related Receptor Alpha) gene. ERRα was originally cloned by DNA sequence homology to the estrogen receptor alpha (ERα, NR3A1), but subsequent ligand binding and reporter-gene transfection experiments demonstrated that estrogens did not regulate ERRα. Currently, ERRα is considered an orphan nuclear receptor. Tissue distribution ERRα has wide tissue distribution but it is most highly expressed in tissues that preferentially use fatty acids as energy sources such as kidney, heart, brown adipose tissue, cerebellum, intestine, and skeletal muscle. Recently, ERRα has been detected in normal adrenal cortex tissues, in which its expression is possibly related to adrenal development, with a possible role in fetal adrenal function, in DHEAS production in adrenarche, and also in steroid production of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
C-Myc
''Myc'' is a family of regulator genes and proto-oncogenes that code for transcription factors. The ''Myc'' family consists of three related human genes: ''c-myc'' ( MYC), ''l-myc'' ( MYCL), and ''n-myc'' ( MYCN). ''c-myc'' (also sometimes referred to as ''MYC'') was the first gene to be discovered in this family, due to homology with the viral gene ''v-myc''. In cancer, ''c-myc'' is often constitutively (persistently) expressed. This leads to the increased expression of many genes, some of which are involved in cell proliferation, contributing to the formation of cancer. A common human translocation involving ''c-myc'' is critical to the development of most cases of Burkitt lymphoma. Constitutive upregulation of ''Myc'' genes have also been observed in carcinoma of the cervix, colon, breast, lung and stomach. Myc is thus viewed as a promising target for anti-cancer drugs. Unfortunately, Myc possesses several features that render it undruggable such that any anti-cancer dr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase
Telomerase reverse transcriptase (abbreviated to TERT, or hTERT in humans) is a catalytic subunit of the enzyme telomerase, which, together with the telomerase RNA component (TERC), comprises the most important unit of the telomerase complex. Telomerases are part of a distinct subgroup of RNA-dependent polymerases. Telomerase lengthens telomeres in DNA strands, thereby allowing senescent cells that would otherwise become postmitotic and undergo apoptosis to exceed the Hayflick limit and become potentially immortal, as is often the case with cancerous cells. To be specific, TERT is responsible for catalyzing the addition of nucleotides in a TTAGGG sequence to the ends of a chromosome's telomeres. This addition of repetitive DNA sequences prevents degradation of the chromosomal ends following multiple rounds of replication. hTERT absence (usually as a result of a chromosomal mutation) is associated with the disorder Cri du chat. Function Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telomere
A telomere (; ) is a region of repetitive nucleotide sequences associated with specialized proteins at the ends of linear chromosomes. Although there are different architectures, telomeres, in a broad sense, are a widespread genetic feature most commonly found in eukaryotes. In most, if not all species possessing them, they protect the terminal regions of chromosomal DNA from progressive degradation and ensure the integrity of linear chromosomes by preventing DNA repair systems from mistaking the very ends of the DNA strand for a double-strand break. Discovery In the early 1970s, Soviet theorist Alexei Olovnikov first recognized that chromosomes could not completely replicate their ends; this is known as the "end replication problem". Building on this, and accommodating Leonard Hayflick's idea of limited somatic cell division, Olovnikov suggested that DNA sequences are lost every time a cell replicates until the loss reaches a critical level, at which point cell division e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AMP-activated Protein Kinase
5' AMP-activated protein kinase or AMPK or 5' adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase is an enzyme (EC 2.7.11.31) that plays a role in cellular energy homeostasis, largely to activate glucose and fatty acid uptake and oxidation when cellular energy is low. It belongs to a highly conserved eukaryotic protein family and its orthologues are SNF1 in yeast, and SnRK1 in plants. It consists of three proteins ( subunits) that together make a functional enzyme, conserved from yeast to humans. It is expressed in a number of tissues, including the liver, brain, and skeletal muscle. In response to binding AMP and ADP, the net effect of AMPK activation is stimulation of hepatic fatty acid oxidation, ketogenesis, stimulation of skeletal muscle fatty acid oxidation and glucose uptake, inhibition of cholesterol synthesis, lipogenesis, and triglyceride synthesis, inhibition of adipocyte lipogenesis, inhibition of adipocyte lipolysis, and modulation of insulin secretion by pancreatic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Human Mitochondrial Genetics
Human mitochondrial genetics is the study of the genetics of human mitochondrial DNA (the DNA contained in human mitochondria). The human mitochondrial genome is the entirety of hereditary information contained in human mitochondria. Mitochondria are small structures in cells that generate energy for the cell to use, and are hence referred to as the "powerhouses" of the cell. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is not transmitted through nuclear DNA (nDNA). In humans, as in most multicellular organisms, mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from the mother's ovum. There are theories, however, that paternal mtDNA transmission in humans can occur under certain circumstances. Mitochondrial inheritance is therefore non-Mendelian, as Mendelian inheritance presumes that half the genetic material of a fertilized egg (zygote) derives from each parent. Eighty percent of mitochondrial DNA codes for mitochondrial RNA, and therefore most mitochondrial DNA mutations lead to functional problems, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TFAM
Mitochondrial transcription factor A, abbreviated as ''TFAM'' or ''mtTFA'', is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''TFAM'' gene. Function This gene encodes a mitochondrial transcription factor that is a key activator of mitochondrial transcription as well as a participant in mitochondrial genome replication. TFAM binds mitochondrial promoter DNA to aid transcription of the mitochondrial genome. Studies in mice have demonstrated that this gene product is required to regulate the mitochondrial genome copy number and is essential for embryonic development. A mouse model for Kearns–Sayre syndrome was produced when expression of this gene was eliminated by targeted disruption in heart and muscle cells. TFAM is a double box High-mobility group DNA-binding and bending protein. This bending action is important for mitochondrial transcription initiation in mammals, but not in yeasts with the homolog Abf2. TFAM may also participate in the packaging of the mitochondrial genom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NRF1
Nuclear respiratory factor 1, also known as Nrf1, Nrf-1, NRF1 and NRF-1, encodes a protein that homodimerizes and functions as a transcription factor which activates the expression of some key metabolic genes regulating cellular growth and nuclear genes required for respiration, heme biosynthesis, and mitochondrial DNA transcription and replication. The protein has also been associated with the regulation of neurite outgrowth. Alternate transcriptional splice variants, which encode the same protein, have been characterized. Additional variants encoding different protein isoforms have been described but they have not been fully characterized. Confusion has occurred in bibliographic databases due to the shared symbol of NRF1 for this gene and for "nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 1" which has an official symbol of NFE2L1. Function Nrf1 functions as a transcription factor that activates the expression of some key metabolic genes regulating cellular growth and nuclear g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GABPA
GA-binding protein alpha chain is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''GABPA'' gene. Function This gene encodes one of three GA-binding protein transcription factor subunits which functions as a DNA-binding subunit. Since this subunit shares identity with a subunit encoding the nuclear respiratory factor 2 gene, it is likely involved in activation of cytochrome oxidase expression and nuclear control of mitochondrial function. This subunit also shares identity with a subunit constituting the transcription factor E4TF1, responsible for expression of the adenovirus E4 gene. Because of its chromosomal localization and ability to form heterodimers with other polypeptides, this gene may play a role in the Down Syndrome phenotype. Interactions GABPA has been shown to interact with Host cell factor C1, Sp1 transcription factor and Sp3 transcription factor Sp3 transcription factor, also known as SP3, refers to both a protein and the gene it is encoded by. This gene be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Master Regulator
In genetics, a master regulator is a gene at the top of a gene regulation hierarchy, particularly in regulatory pathways related to cell fate and differentiation. Examples Most genes considered master regulators code for transcription factor proteins, which in turn alter the expression of downstream genes in the pathway. Canonical examples of master regulators include Oct-4 (also called POU5F1), SOX2, and NANOG, all transcription factors involved in maintaining pluripotency in stem cells. Master regulators involved in development and morphogenesis can also appear as oncogenes relevant to tumorigenesis and metastasis, as with the Twist transcription factor. Other genes reported as master regulators code for SR protein SR proteins are a conserved family of proteins involved in RNA splicing. SR proteins are named because they contain a protein domain with long repeats of serine and arginine amino acid residues, whose standard abbreviations are "S" and "R" respe ...s, which fun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
