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Mitochondria importance articles
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18 of 176 articles · updated 2026-09-18T14:04Z
- biorxiv2026-08-21score 80mtDNAlineage tracingheteroplasmy
mtDNA mutations below 10% heteroplasmy double clonal assignment in barcoded blood cells
Somatic mitochondrial DNA mutations are used as natural single-cell barcodes, but most lineage papers keep only high-heteroplasmy variants. In lentivirally barcoded human hematopoietic cells, after molecule-level error filtering, calls below 10% per-cell heteroplasmy make up about half of lineage-informative mutations. Keeping the full heteroplasmy spectrum roughly doubles the clonal-assignment area under the precision-recall curve versus a greater-than-10% cutoff, and single-molecule-supported calls help when they are retained as a class.
Source preprint: Low-heteroplasmy mitochondrial DNA mutations improve clonal reconstruction of human cells
- biorxiv2026-08-13score 76mitochondrial dynamicssignalingneurobiology
PKA anchored at AKAP1 remakes mitochondrial shape; the same kinase on MAP2 is a structural microtubule brace
A SpyCatcher-SpyTag replacement lets researchers keep an AKAP’s environment and toggle type-II PKA RII anchoring. RII on AKAP79 or AKAP1 gives phosphorylation-dependent outcomes, including catalytic-subunit membrane recruitment and mitochondrial morphology regulation (AKAP1). RII on MAP2 straightens microtubules, widens bundles, and supports dendritic arborization without needing phosphorylation; the structural job wants an intact second cAMP-binding pocket and is recapitulated by native MAP2–RII. Anchored PKA is sometimes an enzyme and sometimes a cAMP-gated structural protein. Mitochondria are one of the enzymatic addresses.
Source preprint: PKA can adopt structural or enzymatic roles depending on its anchoring site
- biorxiv2026-09-01score 75methodsnephrologytoxicology
Proxiloid kidney tubules catch adefovir mitochondrial toxicity that rodent tests missed
Human iPSC proxiloids become lumenized, polarized proximal-tubule organoids in 14 days with transport and oxidative metabolic competence. They see aminoglycoside injury better than matched 2D cultures and flag adefovir mitochondrial toxicity that rodents missed. A scalable NAM for PT drugs that hit mitochondria.
Source preprint: Scalable proxiloids enable human-relevant assessment of kidney proximal tubule toxicity
- biorxiv2026-09-08score 72methodsneurobiologyOXPHOS
A widely used TBI atlas called microglia neurons, then invented a KCNC3 OXPHOS signature
Most cells labeled “glutamatergic neuron” in CEREBRI, the dominant single-cell traumatic-brain-injury atlas, are glia. That contamination manufactured a biphasic ion-channel trajectory and a KCNC3-specific oxidative-phosphorylation signature that vanish when the labels are audited. Mitochondrial stories in public atlases are only as good as the cell-type names.
Source preprint: AnnoAudit: a marker-based protocol for auditing single-cell atlas annotations reveals annotation-driven artifacts in a widely used traumatic brain injury resource
- biorxiv2026-09-07score 71stem cellsmetabolismmethods
Culture-acquired BCOR truncations lock human iPS cells into a mitochondrial-metabolism-high adaptive state
The most recurrent culture mutations in human induced pluripotent stem cells are BCOR exon-7 truncating indels, a spectrum unlike BCOR in cancer. Losing BCOR rewires chromatin, RNA, and protein toward developmental, pluripotency, and mitochondrial-metabolism programs. CRISPR correction only partly walks it back, so the adaptive state persists after the allele is gone.
Source preprint: BCOR mutations establish a persistent culture-adaptive state in human induced pluripotent stem cells
- biorxiv2026-08-13score 66cancerproteomicsmethods
Automated FFPE melanoma proteomes: regressing tumors run hotter mitochondria and quieter complement
A Tecan Fluent 780 automated deparaffinization workflow beats manual processing on 54 primary cutaneous melanomas (6,146 vs 4,941 proteins, less technical noise) while keeping global profiles comparable (8,305 proteins shared, 96.1%). In tumors with histological regression (21 vs 33), 97 proteins are up and 226 down. Enrichment says higher mitochondrial and translational activity and lower innate-immune/complement pathways in regressing lesions. Survival does not differ in this early-stage cohort. Digital pathology says morphology survives automation.
Source preprint: From Routine Pathology to Precision Oncology: Automated FFPE Tissue Processing for Large-Scale Molecular Studies
- biorxiv2026-08-17score 65apoptosismethodsstructural biology
Cell-free nanodiscs let full-length Bcl-xL, Bax, and Bak sit in a membrane where they actually work
BCL-2-family proteins toggle between cytosol and the mitochondrial outer membrane, and their membrane-embedded structures are still thin. This methods paper gives protocols to make untagged, full-length Bcl-xL, Bax, and Bak from bacterial cell-free extracts in the presence of pre-assembled lipid nanodiscs, then purify them. Bak is worked up as the example for structural and mechanistic follow-on. The product is a membrane-inserted MOM-protein reagent, not a new apoptotic pathway.
Source preprint: Production of membrane-embedded Bcl-2 proteins - Use of cell-free synthesis in continuous exchange for co-translational insertion of Bcl-2 proteins in lipid bilayer nanodiscs
- biorxiv2026-08-20score 64cytoskeletonmethods
DAAM1 builds Tpm3.2 actin at adhesions; mitochondria here are only a polymerase sink
At focal adhesions, DAAM1 formin assembles tropomyosin Tpm3.2-actin filaments, while Ena/VASP proteins polymerize α-actinin-cross-linked bundles. The authors used mitochondrial targeting of actin polymerases as a sequestration tool, not as a mitochondrial-biology experiment. Losing DAAM1 drops Tpm3.2 and impairs adhesion disassembly, copying Tpm3.2-deficient cells. Losing Ena/VASP blocks adhesion maturation and removes α-actinin. Two linear actin arrays, two polymerases. The organelle is a dump address for the tool.
Source preprint: DAAM1 formin and Ena/VASP proteins assemble functionally distinct actin filaments for focal adhesions
- biorxiv2026-08-18score 63mtDNAmethodsentomology
Arizona Culex mitogenomes: first USA quinquefasciatus through the AT-rich control region, plus a 905-bp tarsalis insert
Long-range PCR plus PacBio HiFi yields complete, annotated mitochondrial genomes from Arizona West Nile vectors Culex quinquefasciatus (15,587 bp, first USA mitogenome through the AT-rich control region) and Culex tarsalis (16,416 bp, 905 bp longer than California and Texas references because of a control-region insertion). Phylogeny supports the species IDs. The method is aimed at pooled vector-surveillance samples. This is medical entomology infrastructure, not bioenergetics.
Source preprint: Complete mitochondrial genomes of Arizona West Nile virus vectors, Culex quinquefasciatus and Culex tarsalis
- biorxiv2026-08-11score 63cancermtDNAtherapeutics
IOMM-Lee is an NF2-wildtype, TERT-mutant Grade 3 meningioma line with catalogued mtDNA and a drug list
The widely used malignant meningioma line IOMM-Lee is confirmed NF2-wildtype with a pathogenic TERT promoter c.-124C>T variant. The authors add mtDNA variants, short doubling time (19–21 h), high colony-forming efficiency (up to 87%), relative radiosensitivity (D10 ~3.9 Gy) that ATM inhibition (AZD-1390) can worsen, and a 349-compound screen that yields 34 sub-micromolar clinical-use hits. This is a model-characterization resource, including mitochondrial genotypes, not a mitochondrial-mechanism paper.
Source preprint: ‘An NF2- wildtype malignant meningioma cell line for basic and translational science’
- biorxiv2026-08-12score 62computationalOXPHOSimmunology
PerturbLDM predicts unseen drug–dose–line transcriptomes and keeps an interferon FAO-OXPHOS program
PerturbLDM is a Tahoe-100M-pretrained latent-diffusion model that generates single-cell transcriptional responses to perturbations. On 13,942 held-out drug/dose/line combinations it beats leading methods and beats an additive marginal baseline in 95.2% of conditions. It ranks PANACEA compounds by pathway neighbors, builds a fetal-colon state more accurately than Squidiff, and in PBMCs captures six of seven interferon/antiviral programs plus an interferon-associated FAO-OXPHOS program better than scGen. The mitochondrial hook is that FAO-OXPHOS module, not a new metabolic mechanism.
Source preprint: PerturbLDM: conditional latent diffusion for modelling single-cell perturbation responses
- biorxiv2026-09-09score 61methodstoxicologycancer
Cell Painting sees genotoxic mammary carcinogens wreck mitochondria and ER, then misses the hormone mimics
In JUMP-CP Cell Painting profiles, genotoxic mammary carcinogens shove endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, nucleus, and RNA compartments off their morphological baseline. Hormonally active compounds look like solvent. A guilt-by-association ranker only reaches AUC-ROC 0.63, and the authors say you will need a hormone-sensitive cell if you want endocrine disruptors.
Source preprint: Cell Painting-Based Tool for the Risk Assessment of Mammary Carcinogens and Endocrine Disruptors
- biorxiv2026-08-13score 60mtDNAmethodscomputational
pastForward finishes ancient libraries and screens them for eukaryotic mitochondria at scale
pastForward is a Snakemake pipeline from raw ancient/historical reads to damage-rescaled BAMs, with reports on endogenous content, complexity, and coverage. It maps to multiple references (host plus endosymbiont, COI). Two new tools: ECMSD screens libraries against a mitochondrial reference database for eukaryotic DNA; REVEAL quantifies copy-number of TEs and duplications. Case studies: AMY2B copy number rises across dog domestication including Neolithic samples; the TE opus invades D. melanogaster after the 1800s and is present from 1933. Mitochondria here are a taxonomic detector, not a physiology target.
Source preprint: pastForward: a Snakemake pipeline for ancient and historical DNA with eukaryote-wide taxonomic screening and tracking of copy-number variation
- biorxiv2026-09-06score 57methodsimmunology
10X and Parse scRNA-seq disagree on mitochondrial gene capture and on TEMRA killer genes
A head-to-head of 10X Genomics versus Parse on PBMCs and CD8 TEMRA cells finds platform-specific mitochondrial and ribosomal capture, a 10X bias for short genes, a Parse bias for long transcripts, and under-calling of GNLY, PRF1, and GZMB on Parse. Cell-type stories, including mitochondrial ones, will move with the kit.
Source preprint: Systematic Comparison of 10X Genomics and Parse Single Cell RNA Technologies across PBMC and CD8 + TEMRA Cells
- biorxiv2026-08-17score 57mtDNAmethodsecology
COI hybridization capture pulls ~450 freshwater invertebrate genera from creek eDNA
Custom RNA baits for regional freshwater arthropod, annelid, and mollusc mitochondrial COI sequences enrich environmental DNA ~1,760-fold over shotgun libraries and build ~400 bp Folmer-region contigs. Along 63 km of Boulder Creek (18 sites, 1,500 m elevation), about 450 genera across 8 phyla appear; richness averages 56 genera per site and tracks a known conventional bioassessment pattern. This is mitochondrial barcode capture as a bioassessment tool.
Source preprint: Targeted hybridization capture enables comprehensive detection of freshwater bioassessment invertebrates from environmental DNA
- biorxiv2026-08-09score 57mtDNAmethodsinvasion biology
Pasture mealybug COI: a 10% mitochondrial split, and one haplotype for the US invasion
The first COI barcode for Heliococcus summervillei reveals ~10.2% mitochondrial divergence between Type A and Type B. All invasive-range samples (United States, Australia, Pakistan, Caribbean) share one haplotype from a recent invasion; Barbados holds two closely related, historically stable haplotypes. The barcode is a regulatory ID tool for a grass-killing mealybug. Mitochondria are the diagnostic molecule.
Source preprint: Development of the First Cytochrome Oxidase I Barcode and Evidence for a Single Haplotype Associated with the Recent United States Invasion of the Pasture Mealybug Heliococcus summervillei (Pseudococcidae, Hemiptera)
- biorxiv2026-08-15score 55mtDNAmethodsentomology
SDA-500 is a new Anopheles stephensi cell line, stamped male by karyotype and COI
An embryo-derived A. stephensi (SDA-500) line grows in vitro, is identified by mitochondrial COI barcoding, and is at least partly male (diploid karyotype with a Y). TransIT-PRO transfects better than Lipofectamine reagents. Among tested promoters, Anopheles gambiae polyubiquitin is the strongest, most consistent driver in a dual-luciferase assay. The line is a functional-genomics chassis for an urban malaria vector. Mitochondria are the species barcode.
Source preprint: Development and validation of an SDA-500 Anopheles stephensi cell line for molecular studies
- biorxiv2026-09-03score 40mtDNAmethods
A demineralization protocol pulls mitochondrial cytochrome b from rotten cetacean bone
Nine environmentally degraded cetacean bones yield 7.3-57.1 ng/uL DNA after EDTA/N-lauroylsarcosine/proteinase K demineralization and silica cleanup. Mitochondrial cytochrome b PCR works in all; five sequences call Balaenoptera physalus. The organelle genome is the ID tool.
Source preprint: Optimizing DNA extraction from environmentally degraded bone samples for molecular identification of cetacean species