2024-01-08 14:44:33
Japanese scientists have identified a protein that might play a critical role in maintaining two subcellular structures linked to aging and disease.
ADVERTISEMENT
Researchers have identified a protein that might open new avenues in the treatment of age-related diseases.
The protein helps remove damaged organelles, subunits of a cell that perform important tasks inside the cell and are vital to its function.
Two of them – mitochondria and lysosomes – help produce energy in cells and keep them healthy, respectively.
Damage to these organelles has been associatedaging and many diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
In a new study published in the revue Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesscientists from Japan’s Osaka University and other medical schools say that the protein called “hexokinase domain containing 1” (HKDC1) helps protect both mitochondria and lysosomes.
“Modulating HKDC1 function might prevent cellular senescence that causes aging and age-related diseases“, the lead author of the study, Shuhei Nakamura, professor of biochemistry at Nara Medical University, told Euronews Next.
Cellular senescence occurs when cells stop dividing, which can prevent cells from becoming cancerous but contributes to aging. The researchers have declared what some studies suggest that preventing senescence might counter human aging and age-related diseases.
This study also specifically mentions that HKDC1 might impact lung and liver cancers.
“Cellular senescence is implicated in many age-related diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, fibrosis and frailty“, ajoute Shuhei Nakamura.
“The function of HKDC1 might therefore have an impact on these diseases by preventing cellular senescence“.
Vidyani Suryadevara, professor of radiology at Stanford University, told Euronews Next that this “new discovery identifies a critical molecular mechanism that simultaneously affects more than one organelle in the cell“.
She added that this might help discover “a new molecular target for the development of new senolytic drugs” which target cellular senescence.
How does this protein protect organelles?
The function of mitochondria is to create energy for the cell. When they are damaged, they must be eliminated for the cell to survive.
According to Harvard researchers, neurodegenerative diseases can occur when damaged mitochondria build up.
The removal of damaged mitochondria occurs through a process called “mitophagy” and depends on proteins called PINK1 and Parkin.
Scientists have discovered that the HKDC1 protein and its interaction with another protein called “transcription factor EB” (TFEB) are essential for the elimination of damaged mitochondria.
They also found that reduction of HKDC1 interfered with lysosomal repair.
“HKDC1 is located in the mitochondria, right? However, it turns out that it is also essential to the lysosomal repair process.“, adds Shuhei Nakamura in a press release.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Lysosomes and mitochondria come into contact through proteins called VDAC. Specifically, HKDC1 is responsible for interacting with VDACs; this protein is essential for contact between mitochondria and lysosomes, and therefore for lysosome repair“.
According to the researchers, the maintenance of mitochondria and lysosomes was until now poorly understood.
This article has been updated with commentary from an expert who was not involved in the study.
1704726490
#major #discovery #fight #aging #agerelated #diseases