59 5.5: Mitophagy and Altered Mitochondrial Dynamics

Overview

The next few sections will focus specifically on the effects of electronic cigarettes on mitochondrial stress response.

Results

Mitophagy is not increased in the treatment groups of E-liquids and aerosols. This is shown through microscopic visualization of the ptfLC3 plasmid in the treatment groups. This suggests that damaged and dysfunctional mitochondria cannot be properly eliminated, thus propagating pro-apoptotic signalling (Zahedi et al., 2019).

Graphs showing no significant increase in mitophagy for both treatment groups. Open access image: (Zahedi, A., Phandthong, R., Chaili, A., Leung, S., Omaiye, E., & Talbot, P. (2019). Mitochondrial Stress Response in Neural Stem Cells Exposed to Electronic Cigarettes. IScience, 16, 250–269. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2019.05.034).

Mitochondrial motion analysis reveals that E-liquid treated neural stem cells experience an increase in small motion and decrease in large motion compared to the untreated control group. The aerosol treated group experiences an increase in large motion and decrease in small motion (Zahedi et al., 2019).

Graphs showing mitochondrial motion analysis for both treatment groups. A significant increase is shown for E liquid small motion and Aerosol large motion. Open access image: (Zahedi, A., Phandthong, R., Chaili, A., Leung, S., Omaiye, E., & Talbot, P. (2019). Mitochondrial Stress Response in Neural Stem Cells Exposed to Electronic Cigarettes. IScience, 16, 250–269. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2019.05.034).

Key Takeaways

  • Mitophagy is not significantly increased
  • Changes to mitochondrial dynamics depend on the treatment being administered (i.e. E-liquid vs. aerosol)

License

Selected Topics in Health and Disease (2019 Edition) Copyright © by Dr. Ju. All Rights Reserved.

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