Mitochondria as signaling organelles control physiology and disease

Seminar Details

Host: Dr. Vishal Gohil

Time: 4:00pm- 5:00pm

Location: BCBP Rm. 108

Seminar Abstract

For decades, mitochondria have been primarily viewed as biosynthetic and bioenergetic organelles generating metabolites to produce macromolecules and ATP, respectively. My work has elucidated that mitochondria have a third distinct role whereby they participate in cellular signaling processes through the release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and metabolites independent of ATP and macromolecule production. Our work has implicated the necessity of mitochondrial ROS for multiple biological processes including hypoxic activation of HIFs, cellular differentiation, and adaptive immunity. Previously, the dogma in the field had been that mitochondrial ROS are only produced in pathological settings to cause both lipid, protein and DNA damage. However, our work demonstrates that mitochondrial ROS are utilized as messengers to maintain normal biological and physiological functions. Our studies suggest that the current widespread use of antioxidants is likely to be detrimental rather than beneficial for alleviating a myriad of diseases as this could interfere with normal physiological processes. Recently, our work has shown that mitochondria release the metabolite L-2HG, which increases histone and DNA methylation to control hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) differentiation and regulatory T cell (Treg) function, respectively. In summary, our lab has been instrumental in changing our view of mitochondria from the “powerhouses” of cell to “signaling organelles”.  I will discuss our ongoing work on mitochondria as signaling organelles to control physiology and diseases.