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WTF are mitochondria? (useful video)

Demepivo

Dolores Abernathy
Messages
411
If you have kept half an eye on ME/CFS news over the last 6 months, you will have seen lots of papers about mitochondria especially from Robert Naviaux & in the last few days: Fluge & Mella.

But if like me you dropped biology at an early age...Jumping pyruvate...What are mitochondria?

Fortunately Bozeman Science has a rather good video on YouTube about them.

 
Messages
2,158
Thanks for this. It's a good intro to the fascinating mitochondria...

If you want a more detailed overview of mitochondria, I recommend a short on line course I did a few months ago.

It's free, and you can just watch the lectures, or also have a go at a few multiple choice tests.


Look up EdX which is a platform for loads of free courses from Universities.

The one I did was from Harvard, and just called Mitochondria I think.

It's broken up into short lectures with good animations. I can't remember all the details I learnt, but I enjoyed it - might even do it again.

There are other cell biology courses on offer too. I'm half way through one on biochemistry and genetics, though I haven't managed to do any of it for a few weeks. (which doesn't matter).

Coursera and FuturLearn also offer courses.

Enjoy!
 
Messages
2,158
I've now looked up Bozeman science. Wow, what a lot of fascinating stuff for me to look at in future. Just as a taster, I've just watched one on CRISPR, which I'd heard of but didn't know what it was.

Wow, he certainly packs a lot into a few minutes. So much to learn. And bite size for short concentrations!

Thanks @Demepivo for introducing me to Bozeman science.
 

LINE

Senior Member
Messages
832
Location
USA
Great video. Mitochondria becomes damaged due to oxidative stress.The most likely culprit in ME is the Immune activation which creates oxidation which damages cell membranes, the other factor to consider is environmental toxins. With membrane damage then the cell becomes dysfunction and can no longer produce adequate energy. So in theory as you increase antioxidants, you decrease oxidative stress then you have more stability.

OXIDATIVE STRESS AND MITOCHONDRIAL DAMAGE
Oxidative stress is characterized by an overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can lead to mitochondrial damage in the following ways.

Oxidative damage and ROS
The balance of ROS and antioxidants under normal physiological conditions is disrupted with the overproduction of free radicals. These excess free radicals can lead to DNA damage, degradation of protein and lipids, neurodegenerative diseases including AD, PD and ALS (Figure 1), and can cause protein deposition.


Figure 1

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial damage.
ROS and mitochondrial damage
ROS and mitochondrial DNA mutations
Mitochondria are the only organelles in cells, besides the nucleus, that contain their own DNA (called mitochondrial DNA) and their own machinery for synthesizing RNA and proteins[5]. Mitochondrial DNA makes up approximately 1% of total cellular DNA and is thought to be particularly susceptible to ROS attack associated with oxidative stress[6]. The persistence of mitochondrial DNA damage ultimately leads to mutations in the mitochondrial genome[6] and gives rise to further mitochondrial dysfunction, which induces and aggravates the diseases (Figure 1).
 

Demepivo

Dolores Abernathy
Messages
411
@trishrhymes In addition to Bozeman Science, there are a couple of other v good cahnnels on YouTune to undestand the complicated background science behind ME/CFS.

First up is Crash Course, in particular the Anatomy & Physiology Playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dPuuaLjXtOAKed_MxxWBNaPno5h3Zs8

Second up is Khan Academy, there are lots of overlapping videos in various playlists but you might want to check up the Overview of Metabolism
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbKSbFnKYVY24X0vW5FQn2YwHHUp1dlMW

Between them Bozeman Science, Crash Course & Khan Academy should provide some of the knowledge you seek presented in a variety of styles.

Enjoy!