Page 23 - ITPS-7-2

INNOSC Theranostics

and Pharmacological Sciences

REVIEW ARTICLE
Mitochondria: The master regulator of aging

Pouya Sarvari* and Pourya Sarvari
Iran National Elite Foundation (INEF), Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Mitochondria are ATP-producing organelles in eukaryotic organisms that serve
as the cell’s power plants. Besides, mitochondria are integral to regulating cellular
homeostasis and metabolism as a result of their essential roles in reactive oxygen
species (ROS) production, bioenergetics, catabolism and anabolism, heme and iron-
sulfur biosynthesis, iron and calcium homeostasis, apoptosis and signal transduction,
as well as immunity and inflammation. It is well accepted that mitochondria are
evolutionarily derived from endosymbiotic alphaproteobacteria within eukaryotic
cells adapted for effective energy transduction. Although most of the mitochondrial
DNA (mtDNA) is thought to have been transported to the eukaryotic nucleus during
evolution, mitochondria may have preserved protein-coding genes within their own
DNA. Accumulating data show that a progressive decline of mitochondria regulates
aging. The present review aims to outline the role of mitochondria in various aspects of
aging, including unfolded protein response, generation of ROS, and the contribution
of somatic mtDNA mutations as well as inflammation in aging. Moreover, we propose
mitochondria-targeted nanoparticles and mitochondrial genome editing as novel
tools to modify mitochondrial genome aberrations.

*Corresponding author:
Pouya Sarvari Keywords: Aging; Heteroplasmy; Mitochondrial DNA; Mitochondrial genome editing;
(Pouyasarvari2008@gmail.com) Mitochondrial quality control; Mitochondria-targeted nanoparticles; Mitochondrial
Citation: Sarvari P, Sarvari P. unfolded protein response; Reactive oxygen species
Mitochondria: The master regulator
of aging. INNOSC Theranostics
and Pharmacological Sciences.
2024;7(2):1726.
doi: 10.36922/itps.1726
1. Introduction
Received: August 31, 2023
Accepted: November 16, 2023 Aging is an intricate process during which continual tissue and organ function loss occurs
over time, leading to increased susceptibility to death along with a decline in mitochondrial
Published Online: February 22, 2024
function. This debilitation is the major cause of substantial age-related disorders,
1-4
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, and diabetes.
3,5
This is an Open-Access article Nevertheless, aging has several common features, such as (i) impotent intercellular
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution communication, (ii) impairment of proteostasis, (iii) mitochondrial disorder, (iv) genomic
License, permitting distribution, alteration, (v) epigenetic modifications, (vi) cellular senescence, (vii) nutrient-sensing
and reproduction in any medium, misfunction, (viii) stem cell debility, and (ix) telomere shortening. The present review,
3,6
provided the original work is
properly cited. however, focuses on the regulatory role of mitochondria in the aging process.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience Mitochondria, specialized organelles with two distinct membranes and a unique
Publishing remains neutral with genome, evolved through an endosymbiotic relationship of an alphaproteobacterium
regard to jurisdictional claims in 7,8
published maps and institutional with a eukaryotic cell, which is protected in exchange for a supply of energy. Like nuclear
affiliations. genetic material, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can undergo mutations or damage that

Volume 7 Issue 2 (2024) 1 doi: 10.36922/itps.1726