Mitochondria in Our Cells Create Energy We Can’t Live Without

Mitochondria – Turning on the Powerhouse

Mitochondria are known as the powerhouses of the cell. They are organelles that act like a digestive system that takes in nutrients, breaks them down, and creates energy for the cell. The process of creating cell energy is known as cellular respiration. Most of the chemical reactions involved in cellular respiration happens in these organelles.

Youthful mitochondria: The mitochondrion, shown here, is a tiny cellular structure that turns chemical fuel into cellular energy. Boosting certain enzymes within the mitochondria protects the cell against stress and death. Credit: hybrid medical animation / Photo Researchers, Inc

To create energy, these powerhouse cells rip apart the glucose molecule, releasing carbon dioxide, water, and 36 energy units called ATPs. During many of the steps of this process, intermediary products are produced which are dangerous, reactive free radicals. If our cells lack appropriate levels of antioxidants and CoQ10, the membranes of these powerhouses break down, releasing those dangerous toxins into the cell, where they can damage other cellular structures, including DNA and genes. Numerous neurodegenerative (brain) diseases are now firmly associated with the failure of these membranes. Resveratrol has been proven to stimulate the production of fresh mitochondria, the key components of cells that serve as power generators. They burn sugar in slow motion to release energy.

Resveratrol’s ability to engender new powerhouse cells is especially exciting because it seems the fresh ones are more efficient that the worn cells they replace, hence are less prone to churn out damaging radicals. Calorie restriction appears to do the same thing. It’s like replacing a smoky coal burner with a cleaner burning gas-fired plant.

Resveratrol possibly will treat many diseases of aging because of its ability to boost mitochondria, those cellular power plants. The list of disorders thought to involve malfunctioning mitochondria includes adult-onset diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases – all are diseases of aging. Researchers show that a natural antioxidant found in grape skins and red wine can help destroy pancreatic cancer cells by reaching to the cell's core energy source, and crippling its function.

The new study also showed that when the pancreatic cancer cells were doubly assaulted -- pre-treated with the antioxidant resveratrol, and irradiated -- the combination induced a type of cell death called apoptosis, an important goal of cancer therapy.

The fact that resveratrol has effects on the mitochondria of cancer cells is particularly interesting, since they are known to play an important role in apoptosis, which is a form of programmed cell death. One of the main ways cancer therapies such as radiation and chemotherapy kill cancer cells is by inducing apoptosis. However, advanced cancers develop ways of evading apoptosis. If resveratrol independently interferes with the function of these organelles in cancer cells, that would be helpful.

Laboratory experiments showed how resveratrol affected cancer cells:

• Reduced the function of proteins in the pancreatic cancer cell membranes that are responsible for pumping chemotherapy out of the cell, making the cells chemo-sensitive.

• Triggered the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are substances circulating in the human body that have been implicated in a number of diseases: when ROS is increased, cells burn out and die.

• Caused apoptosis, which is likely the result of increased ROS.

• Depolarized the mitochondrial membranes, which indicates a decrease in the cell's potential to function. Radiation alone does not injure this membrane as much.

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