Mitochondria play a central role during neurogenesis by providing energy in the form of ATP for cytoskeletal remodelling, outgrowth of neuronal processes, growth cone activity and synaptic activity. However, the fundamental question of how differentiating neurons control mitochondrial biogenesis remains vastly unexplored. Since our previous studies have shown that the neurogenic bHLH (basic hel...

A single-subunit RNA polymerase, POLRMT, transcribes the mitochondrial genome in human cells. Recently, a factor termed as the mitochondrial transcription elongation factor, TEFM, was shown to stimulate transcription elongation in vivo, but its effect in vitro was relatively modest. In the current work, we have isolated active TEFM in recombinant form and used a reconstituted in vitro transcrip...

The transcription factor nuclear factor erythroid 2 p45-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is the master regulator of the cellular redox homeostasis. Nrf2 target genes comprise of a large network of antioxidant enzymes, proteins involved in xenobiotic detoxification, repair and removal of damaged proteins, inhibition of inflammation, as well as other transcription factors. In recent years it has emerged t...

Mammalian mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) exists in structures called nucleoids, which correspond to the configuration of nuclear DNA. Mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), first cloned as an mtDNA transcription factor, is critical for packaging and maintaining mtDNA. To investigate functional aspects of TFAM, we identified many RNA-binding proteins as candidate TFAM interactors, including ERA...

background: the transcription factor 7-like 2 gene (tcf7l2) is an element of the wnt signaling pathway. there is lack of evidence if tcf7l2 has a functional role in lipid metabolism and regulation of the components constitutes the metabolic syndrome (metsyn).the aims of this study were to evaluate whether the risk allele of tcf7l2 gene polymorphism is associated with dyslipidemia and metsyn. ma...

Adult neurogenesis is a process of producing nerve cells from their progenitor that occurs in some areas in the brain such as the hypothalamus. Low activity in this area plays a role in neural degeneration and diseases such as multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and depression. MS is a neurodegenerative disease with a permanent disability that the main reason for it is axonal degeneration and neuronal...

Oxidative stress may play an important role in the pathogenesis of keratoconus (KC). Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is involved in mitochondrial function, and the mtDNA content, integrity, and transcript level may affect the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and be involved in the pathogenesis of KC. We designed a case-control study to research the relationship between KC and mtDNA integri...

Mitochondrial dysfunction and respiratory function changes have been consistently associated with the initiation progression of cancer. The purpose this study was to retrospectively investigate expression mitochondrial tumor-suppressor DNA-repair proteins in patients oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) evaluate relationship between their prognosis. We enrolled 197 OSCC who underwent surgical re...

Endurance exercise-training results in an increase in the size and number of mitochondria in the skeletal muscles that are involved in the exercise. In early studies of this phenomenon, long-term training programs of progressively increasing intensity and duration were used. These studies gave the impression that the adaptive increase in mitochondria is a slow process. Recent advances in the un...