How is the quality of cells’ power plants controlled?

Cell’s power plants are called mitochondria. Wallenberg Academy Fellow Andreas Kohler will investigate how cells maintain the quality of their mitochondria. The aim is to understand why mitochondrial function starts to decline as we age and in certain age-related conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. 

Most of the body’s chemical reactions are driven by proteins. It is important that the proteins work properly, so they undergo quality control when they are produced. Scientists have a good understanding of how this quality control works for most of the proteins in the cell, but not for those that are made in the mitochondria.

Dr Andreas Kohler at Umeå University will now bridge this knowledge gap. He will map how mitochondrial proteins are controlled in yeast cells – the same kind of yeast used in bakeries. The mitochondria in humans and in baker’s yeast are very similar, but yeast cells are much easier to study.

Using advanced, large-scale genetic analyses, among other things, Andreas Kohler will search for the components in mitochondria that govern quality controls. In the next step, he will try to enhance this quality control, to make it work better. He hopes that doing so will counteract mitochondrial aging and prolong cell life. The knowledge he gains could be useful in developing treatments for diseases linked to aging and impaired mitochondrial function. 

Foto: Patrik Lundin