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MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit

 
Read more at: Biology Masterclass at Lowestoft

Biology Masterclass at Lowestoft

17 December 2021

After a two-year break due to Covid contingencies, Dr Martin King recently delivered his Biology Masterclass to students of Lowestoft Sixth Form College (East Coast College). Martin’s presentation was delivered under social distancing guidelines, which made some communications difficult, but the feedback reflects a...


Read more at: Single-molecule mitochondrial DNA sequencing shows no evidence of CpG methylation in human cells and tissues

Single-molecule mitochondrial DNA sequencing shows no evidence of CpG methylation in human cells and tissues

14 December 2021

The results of a research study carried out by Iacopo Bicci and Claudia Calabrese in Professor Patrick Chinnery’s laboratory have been published in Nucleic Acids Research . Cytosine methylation is an epigenetic modification of nuclear DNA (nDNA) that can regulate gene expression during development and throughout life, but...


Read more at: Reflection on the past, present and future of mitochondrial genome engineering

Reflection on the past, present and future of mitochondrial genome engineering

8 December 2021

In a review published in Nature Reviews Genetics, entitled The potential of mitochondrial genome engineering , Pedro Silva-Pinheiro and Michal Minczuk reflect on the past, present and future of mitochondrial genome engineering. Mitochondria are subject to unique genetic control by both nuclear DNA and their own genome...


Read more at: Structure of ATP synthase from Mycobacterium smegmatis provides targets for treating tuberculosis

Structure of ATP synthase from Mycobacterium smegmatis provides targets for treating tuberculosis

16 November 2021

A research study led by Professor John Walker has been published in Proceedings of the National Acadmy of Sciences of the United States of America . As the world tackles the COVID-19 pandemic, other wide-spread infectious diseases, including tuberculosis (TB), take their toll on mankind, and those with TB are more likely...


Read more at: Whole genome sequencing from a single blood test detects 31% more cases of rare genetic disorders than standard tests

Whole genome sequencing from a single blood test detects 31% more cases of rare genetic disorders than standard tests

4 November 2021

The results of a research study led by Professor Patrick Chinnery , in collaboration with scientists from the MRC MBU, and the Departments of Clinical Neurosciences and Medical Genetics, have been published in the British Medical Journal . In total, 345 participants – aged 0 to 92 with a median age of 25 years – had their...


Read more at: Mito warriors: scientists discover how T cell assassins reload their weapons to kill and kill again - new footage shows T cells hunting down and destroying cancer cells

Mito warriors: scientists discover how T cell assassins reload their weapons to kill and kill again - new footage shows T cells hunting down and destroying cancer cells

18 October 2021

Professor Gillian Griffiths (CIMR) and her research group, in collaboration with Dr Julien Prudent (MBU), have discovered how T cells – an important component of our immune system – are able keep on killing as they hunt down and kill cancer cells, repeatedly reloading their toxic weapons. Cytotoxic T cells are specialist...


Read more at: World Mitochondrial Disease Week

World Mitochondrial Disease Week

20 September 2021

This week (19-25 September, 2021) is World Mitochondrial Disease Week . Every year, monuments around the world are lit up green to raise awareness for mitochondrial disease (mito). 2021's Light Up for Mito will take place in participating countries on Saturday, 25 September 2021. Contributions on twitter can be found by...


Read more at: Linking chemotherapy resistance to mitochondrial Ca2+-dependent cell death

Linking chemotherapy resistance to mitochondrial Ca2+-dependent cell death

13 September 2021

SMARCA4 and SMARCA2 are two mutually exclusive ATPase subunits of the SWI/SNF family, which are involved in chromatin remodeling to control gene expression. Dual loss of SMARCA4/2, by mutations and other mechanisms, has been shown to be responsible for a subset of lung (non-small cell) and ovarian (small cell carcinoma of...


Read more at: Cell reprogramming shapes the mitochondrial DNA
Fig.!. mtDNA heteroplasmic variants detected from whole-genome sequences

Cell reprogramming shapes the mitochondrial DNA

3 September 2021

Nature Communications has published the results of a research study led by Professor Patrick Chinnery , which show that the dynamic mtDNA landscape contributes to the heterogeneity of human iPSCs. Individual induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) show considerable phenotypic heterogeneity, but the reasons for this are not...


Read more at: New MitoPhen database for comparisons in mitochondrial disease

New MitoPhen database for comparisons in mitochondrial disease

3 September 2021

In a collaborative project led by the University of Cambridge the MitoPhen database has been established under the leadership of Professors Patrick Chinnery and Ernest Turro (now at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA). The MitoPhen database is the result of the curation of the clinical phenotypes of...