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Mitochondrial mystery demystified
Fifty years ago, researchers studying mitochondria solved one mystery only to encounter another. In 1961, Peter Mitchell, who would go on to receive a Nobel Prize in 1978 for his work, discovered how energy is generated across the membrane of the mitochondrion, which serves as a cellular energy plant, converting raw fuel – oxygen and food – into energy units that cells use to power themselves. But in the same year, researchers made an unusual observation: mitochondria could slurp up calcium from their surroundings, producing a potentially important cellular signal. For decades, scientists searched in vain for the proteins that might make this calcium uptake possible and speculated about what this signal might trigger. […]
[…] a team led by researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital announced the discovery of an essential component of the channel that allows calcium to flow into mitochondria. This fundamental discovery will help scientists assess the mitochondrion’s role in ways that were not possible before. […] (via Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard)](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnk5nmE10v1qb3iw0o1_400.jpg)
Mitochondrial mystery demystified
Fifty years ago, researchers studying mitochondria solved one mystery only to encounter another. In 1961, Peter Mitchell, who would go on to receive a Nobel Prize in 1978 for his work, discovered how energy is generated across the membrane of the mitochondrion, which serves as a cellular energy plant, converting raw fuel – oxygen and food – into energy units that cells use to power themselves. But in the same year, researchers made an unusual observation: mitochondria could slurp up calcium from their surroundings, producing a potentially important cellular signal. For decades, scientists searched in vain for the proteins that might make this calcium uptake possible and speculated about what this signal might trigger. […]
[…] a team led by researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital announced the discovery of an essential component of the channel that allows calcium to flow into mitochondria. This fundamental discovery will help scientists assess the mitochondrion’s role in ways that were not possible before. […] (via Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard)
