New research in the journal Nature Aging takes a page from the field of renewable energy and shows that genetically engineered mitochondria can convert light energy into chemical energy that cells can use, ultimately extending the life of the roundworm C. elegans.  While the prospect of sunlight-charged cells in humans is more science fiction than science, the findings shed light on important mechanisms in the aging process.

Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) has been the source of major discoveries in molecular and cell biology

“We know that mitochondrial dysfunction is a consequence of aging,” said Andrew Wojtovich, Ph.D., associate professor of Pharmacology & Physiology at the University of Rochester Medical Center and senior author of the study.  “This study found that simply boosting metabolism using light-powered mitochondria gave laboratory worms longer, healthier lives.  These findings and new research tools will enable us to further study mitochondria and identify new ways to treat age-related diseases and age healthier.”

Mitochondria are organelles found in most cells in the body.  Often referred to as cellular power plants, mitochondria use glucose to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the compound that provides energy for key functions in the cell, such as muscle contraction and the electrical impulses that help nerve cells communicate with each other.

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Synthetic neurons made of hydrogel could one day be used in sophisticated artificial tissues to repair organs such as the heart or the eyes. Hagan Bayley at the University of Oxford and his colleagues devised a synthetic material that can act in a similar way to a human neuron. Made from hydrogel, the artificial neurons are about 0.7 millimetres across ­– about 700 times wider than a human neuron, but similar to giant axons found in squid. They can also be made up to 25 millimetres long, which is similar in length to a human optic nerve running from the eye to the brain.
When a light is shone on the synthetic neuron, it activates proteins that pump hydrogen ions into the cell. These positively charged ions then move through the neuron, carrying an electrical signal. The speed of transmission was too fast to measure with the team’s equipment and is probably faster than the rate in natural neurons, says Bayley. When the positive charge reaches the tip of the neuron, it makes adenosine triphosphate (ATP) – a neurotransmitter chemical – move from one water droplet to another. In future work, the researchers hope to make the synthetic neuron interact with another via an ATP signal, just as neurons connect with each other at synapses.
The team bundled seven of the neurons together to work in parallel as a synthetic nerve. “This allows us to send multiple signals simultaneously,” says Bayley. “They can all have very different frequencies and so it’s a very versatile signal.” The main purpose is to send different pieces of information down the same pathway, he says.

However, the artificial neurons still have a long way to go. Unlike real neurons, there is no mechanism to recycle and create new neurotransmitters in the synthetic system. The neurons therefore only work for a few hours, says Bayley. “The more you do science, the more you find out how clever science is by virtue of evolution.” Alain Nogaret at the University of Bath in the UK says the innovation could play a major role in improving neuro-implants such as artificial retinas by the end of the decade. “The emulation of nervous activity in soft materials is a major step towards non-invasive brain-machine interfaces and solutions addressing neurodegenerative disease.”

Bayley hopes to eventually use these synthetic neurons to deliver different types of drugs simultaneously to treat wounds more quickly and precisely. “Using light, we could maybe release drug molecules in a patterned way,” he says.
Source: https://www.nature.com/ 
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