Mitochondria Lab Report

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Aging affects all living organisms, which is characterized by the loss of cellular homeostasis causing systemic cellular dysfunction. In fact, both the mitochondrion and the actin cytoskeleton show age-associated declines in functions. As an organism age, mitochondria accumulate mtDNA mutations, which result in mitochondrial dysfunction. The actin cytoskeleton also declines with age. This affects establishment and maintenance of cell polarity as well as cellular and intracellular movement, which in turn contributes to age-associated declines in systems including the immune system and skeletal muscle. In addition, many age-related pathologies like neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, display dysfunction in mitochondria and actin. Interestingly, Dr. Liza Pon’s …show more content…

The finding that this process, mother-daughter age asymmetry, occurs in yeast, a single cell organism, led to the model that aging determinants may be preferentially retained by mother cells and rejuvenating determinants are preferentially inherited by daughter cells. Our lab has shown that mitochondria are asymmetrically inherited during yeast cell division and that inheritance of fitter mitochondria by yeast daughter cells is dependent upon that actin cytoskeleton and necessary for daughter cells fitness and lifespan. We carried out a genome-wide screen to identify genes, which when deleted reduce the sensitivity of yeast to the growth inhibiting effects on Latrunculin-A (Lat-A), an actin destabilizing drug, treatment. We have identified multiple genes whose deletion exhibited decreased sensitivity to Lat-A, increased number of actin cables (bundles of F-actin that serve as tracks for movement of mitochondria and other cargos from mother cells to buds), increased mitochondria quality, and extended lifespan. One of the genes identified is a previously uncharacterized open reading

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