The Electron Leak Pathways of Mitochondrial Respiratory Chain and its Potential Application in Medical Research

This is a review on our 10 selected publications listed in the reference. The purpose of the review is further understanding the biomedical meanings of the electron leakage of mitochondrial respiratory chain and call for attention to “Chi” (see Douglas C. Wallace: Mitochondria as “chi”. http://www.genetics.org/ content/179/2/727.short). “Chi” is a Chinese character used by Chinese doctor to describe the healthy state of patients. The first part of the review summarized the experiments shown the pathological significance of the electron leakage. The second part analyzed the physiological meanings theoretically. The third part presented an idea on health and longevity in thermodynamic principle. Thinking of health and longevity thermodynamically is helpful for scientists to understand the scientific connotation of Chinese medicine.