Other sections examine the roles of extracellular mitochondria in immune regulation and inflammation, neurodegeneration and neuroprotection, and their therapeutic potential. By bridging gaps in existing literature, this resource offers up-to-date research and discoveries, providing valuable insights into how extracellular mitochondria could revolutionize medical advancements and improve patient outcomes.
Table of Contents
1. General introduction2. Cellular mechanisms of mitochondrial transfer and metabolic signaling
3. Modern techniques for studying extracellular mitochondria
4. Cell-free human mtDNA; A promising disease biomarker
5. Interplay between extracellular vesicles and mitochondria
6. Extracellular mitochondria: Dual roles in neurodegeneration and neuroprotection
7. Extracellular mitochondria and their influence in eye pathologies
8. Extracellular mitochondria in immune regulation and inflammatory diseases
9. Therapeutic potential of extracellular mitochondria: applications and challenges
10. Conclusions and future perspectives
Authors
Carla Lopes Assistant researcher, Multidisciplinary Institute of Ageing, University of Coimbra, Portugal.Dr. Carla Lopes graduated in Biomedical Engineering in 2010. Her Ph.D. was focused on modeling neurodegenerative diseases first by using transgenic mouse models and later patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) to understand metabolic and mitochondrial abnormalities. In 2015, she worked as a Post Doc supported by a grant from a project financed by The Luso-American Development Foundation Life Science 2020 at the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology. In this project, she worked mainly on metabolic and mitochondrial abnormalities in fibroblasts, iPSC and neural stem cells obtained from late-onset HD and genetically corrected counterparts. In 2018, Dr. Lopes received a grant funded by FCT as a Principal Investigator "iPS cells-derived exosomes - impact on mitochondrial (dys)function in Huntington's disease and potential nanodelivery system for microRNA-based therapeutics". In 2023 she was hired as an Assistant researcher at the Multidisciplinary Institute of Ageing, Coimbra.
Paulo C�sar da Silva Pinheiro Assistant Professor, Centre for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Portugal. Dr. Paulo Pinheiro graduated in Applied Biology in 2001. His PhD was focused on characterizing the function/pharmacology of presynaptic glutamate receptors and their contribution to brain disorders. In 2009 he moved to the Institute for Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Copenhagen, where he obtained, among others, a prestigious 2-year Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship and a large grant from the pharma industry. Here, his work was devoted to studying vesicle biogenesis, the vesicle priming process and the molecular mechanisms of neurotransmitter release. In 2012 Paulo won a competitive 5-year FCT investigator position at the CNC, Portugal, which he effectively took in 2015. He is currently part of the large Synapse Biology group led by Ana Lu�sa Carvalho, with a fully equipped electrophysiology lab, Coimbra, and collaborates extensively in-house and with international colleagues in diverse research topics. In 2023 he was hired in a tenure track position as Assistant Professor at the Department of Life sciences, University of Coimbra.
