The Science Garden

this one is for my lovely astronomy admirers! we are quite literally made of stardust! every atom in our bodies, aside from primordial hydrogen, was literally cooked in deep space and brought over to Earth over billions of years!! hydrogen and helium were not formed in stars, but created in the big bang itself and make up most of the water and organic molecules in our bodies. nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen are the lighter 'life elements' that are forged during the normal lifespans of low-to-medium mass stars. they are released into space through stellar winds or when a star sheds its outer layers as a planetary nebula. calcium and iron are heavier elements, calcium is largely produced during supernova explosions of massive stars. iron, on the other hand, is unique! while some of it comes from massive supernovae, a massive portion of the iron in our blood comes from type la supernovae, which occurs when a white dwarf star pulls too much material from a neighbor and completely explodes. lastly, gold and iodine - these elements are even heavier than iron and often require more extreme cosmic collisions, like two neutron stars smashing into each other. ISN'T THAT COOL?!?

helloooo my scrub scholars, neuron nerds, and biology bugs!!! this one is for you guys!!

today, on our FIRST OFFICIAL BLOG POST!! (omg!!!...... ╰(°ㅂ°)╯ ) , we’ll be talking about mitochondrial transfer and how it protects against peripheral neuropathy!!

now, hearing all that absolute gibberish may have sounded INSANE to you. so we’ll start off with some basic definitions.

mitochondrial transfer is the process that involves moving the mitochondria within cells. you’ll see this in something called mitochondrial replacement therapy! a very specific clinical example, but today we’re focusing on natural mitochondrial transfer between cells hehe) this movement is usually from healthy cells to damaged cells, it is to boost energy production and restore function in these cells calling out sick. hehe. 

peripheral neuropathy is nerve damage outside of the brain and spinal cord (that being our lovely peripheral nervous system) , this typically results in symptoms like numbness, tingling, burning pains, etc…  these peripheral nerves are responsible for sending signals in relation to common bodily functions like muscle movement, circulation, and more. peripheral neuropathy interferes with these communications from peripheral nerve to the central nervous system. it makes these peripheral nerves become a little.. confused. they stop sending signals, and send signals to where there shouldn’t be any, or errors are made during signaling. thats what causes all of those funky symptoms. 

an example of peripheral neuropathy is carpal tunnel syndrome! something a lot of us experience… ໒(⁄›˅̭‹∖)७

A LITTLE MORE OF SOME BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE..

keep in mind that neurons need a ton of energy to fire signals, and that lovely energy comes from the mitochondria!! the powerhouse of the cell as said in baby biology!

tunneling nanotubes are super thin, long cellular bridges that connects distant cells, it creates networks for direct communication and transferring vital cargo like protein, mitochondria, ions, and even viruses and pathogens!!  

last prior knowledge, glial cells are support cells that help neurons survive and function!!

now.. you may be asking, “well.. how does mitochondrial transfer and peripheral neuropathy relate to each other?”

ILL GET TO THAT RIGHT NOW!! HAVE PATIENCE MY SCIENCE SPROUT!! ヽ(｀Д´)ﾉ

in a wonderful article published by ‘nature’ (will be linked below), mitochondrial transfer from glia to neurons protects against peripheral neuropathy!! woohoo!! its almost as if neurons had backup batteries from their neighbors!!

allow me to elaborate, these lovely researchers found that glial cells physically transfer mitochondria into neurons!! this is huge! and it isn’t just in cell cultures, its in animals as well! they found how mitochondria were being transported along these tunneling nanotubes from glia, into neurons! this is shown using dyes and genetically marked mitochondria to see the transfer go on. 

you can see the fluorescent mitochondria (red) inside the neurons, which were originally only in glial cells! - (fig. 1) , this further proves what the researchers had found!!

now looking at the genetically tagged mitochondria, (fig. 2) they look green and the genetically encoded mitochondrial tag is expressed specifically in satellite glial cells using a cell-type-specific genetic driver

to elaborate a little more on genetic tagging, by giving the animals a drug, that being tamoxifen, the researchers switched on this tag only in the glial cells. then, seeing the same fluorescent signal inside neurons, indicated that the mitochondria had moved from glia into neurons!! this is strong evidence for intercellular transfer!

this is huge, because the transfer isn’t just happening in a petri dish. the research team had engineered mice so that glia would have mitochondria labeled with a fluorescent tag. as already said and shown to you guys, these researchers saw that glowing mitochondria appear inside the neurons!! the transfer is happening in real tissue!

to elaborate on (fig. 3) , Aldh1l1is a gene that is mainly active in glial cells, not neurons!! this makes it a glial cell marker, basically a way to tell glial cells apart from other cells. so if something is placed under control of this gene, it will primarily turn on only in glial cells.

Cre-recombinase is a molecular tool that acts like genetic light switch! it turns genes on or off. a promoter is a specific DNA sequence, usually located just before a gene, it acts as a control switch, telling the cell’s machinery where, when, and how much to activate!

by attaching Cre to the Aldh1l1 promotor, scientists make sure Cre is only active inside glial cells.

so.. what about the peripheral neuropathy?...

WELL! all this yap is important because when the researchers had looked at the disease models, they saw when glia can’t send mitochondria effectively, neurons become less and less healthy. in models of diabetes and nerve injury, mitochondrial transfer decreased, and so did nerve function. the transfer system plays a very real role in preventing pain and nerve degeneration!

the reason why this is so important is because traditionally, scientists thought cells makes and maintains its own mitochondria, but this wonderful work shows otherwise! it shows a direct transfer of energy units between different cell types!!!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

this creates so many new possibilities, and its exciting to see where they lead with this work.

(red and purplish blue looking photo) dye images = dynamic, direct visualization of movement (in vitro)

(green and grey photo) genetic tag images = strong lineage proof in real tissue (in vivo)

(fig.1 below - red and bluish purple looking photo)

(fig. 2 above! green and grey looking photo) (fig. 3 below!)

research paper linked!

hello hello! i figured that a small introduction was very much needed to give this blog a nice smooth start, so here we are!

my name is sasha! the owner of this blog, obviously (⌒_⌒;) - I made this blog mainly to geek out about all sorts of scientific topics while creating a community for those who love science just as much as I do.

my love for science really bloomed when I was in middle school, I remember taking a life sciences class and found myself to be so deeply immersed in the subject. It was one of my favorite classes and science still continues to be my favorite subject!

I plan for this blog to talk about all sorts of things science related, from the latest news to cool facts! the knowledge will have no bounds!! I want this blog to keep a light-hearted and happy tone, despite the sensitive subjects that we may dive into. i'm also going to sprinkle in a little bit of some med subjects and such for my scrub scholars.. (hehe yes i have little nicknames for everybody ୧(˃◡ु˂)୨ )

a small fun fact to start off this blog,

BANANAS ARE RADIOACTIVE!! yesyes, they are. they are slightly radioactive because potassium-40 (K-40). consuming one banana would deliver a total dose of 0.01 milirem of radiation! which is a very tincy small dosage.. nothing to worry about! (゜ ロ゜)

sources are listed below!

ill be formatting each post (most likely.. very subject to change) with a song that you can listen to throughout reading the post, fun fact or breaking news, or a summarization of a new study! i'm still figuring out this whole blogging thing so bear with me.. (*ﾉ▽ﾉ)

sasha OUT!