Your Cells Are Trading Mitochondria Right Now. Nobody Taught You This.
In a Nutshell
Cells constantly trade mitochondria like currency, with bone marrow stem cells producing fresh ones inside platelets that deliver them via extracellular vesicles to replace damaged mitochondria throughout the body. This recycling system is especially active under stress when cells produce error-prone mitochondria, and the same exchange happens in the brain between support cells and neurons. The process is evolutionarily ancient and critical because mitochondria are difficult to manufacture accurately and essential for cellular function.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Cells create their own mitochondria. All cells can create mitochondria, including muscle cells that rebuild them every three months. Mitochondria wear out quickly. Skeletal muscle, heart, and other organs are not very accurate at creating mitochondria and tend to produce many errors in the code because they are working frantically. Under stress, cells replicate much more quickly and perform a sloppy job on mitochondria, leading to damage.
The bone marrow serves as the factory that preserves the heritage of the best mitochondria and creates fresh younger mitochondria. These are sent out to the body to replace ones that get burned out. This process originates from the stem cells in the bone marrow.
Stem cells create platelets. Each platelet contains five to ten mitochondria. The body creates 100 billion platelets per day from bone marrow and retires 100 billion at the end of ten days. At the end of their lifespan, before being recycled, platelets squirt out their mitochondria in little extracellular vesicles. Other cells pick them up.
This mechanism was discovered by the chief scientist in a laboratory in Quebec. The discovery revealed that platelets give off mitochondria when at the end of their lifespan. Studies showed that within five minutes almost all of these mitochondria have been absorbed by nearby cells because they are contained in vesicles with little targeting molecules. Cells grab these mitochondria quickly.
Sign in to read the full notes
Get access to AI-generated notes, topic timestamps, and more.