Improvement of cognitive and motor performance with mitotherapy in aged mice

• Published in: International journal of biological sciences Vol. 16; no. 5; pp. 849 - 858
• Main Authors: Zhao, Zizhen, Yu, Zhenyao, Hou, Yixue, Zhang, Le, Fu, Ailing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Australia Ivyspring International Publisher Pty Ltd 01.01.2020; Ivyspring International Publisher
• Subjects: Age; Aging; Animal behavior; Animal cognition; Animal tissues; Brain; Cognitive ability; Dehydrogenases; Energy; Enzymes; Liver; Memory; Metabolism; Mitochondria; Mitochondrial DNA; Motor task performance; Musculoskeletal system; Mutation; Production increases; Reactive oxygen species; Research Paper; Rodents; Structure-function relationships; bioenergy; motor; learning and memory; mitochondria
• ISSN: 1449-2288; 1449-2288
• DOI: 10.7150/ijbs.40886

Changes in mitochondrial structure and function are mostly responsible for aging and age-related features. Whether healthy mitochondria could prevent aging is, however, unclear. Here we intravenously injected the mitochondria isolated from young mice into aged mice and investigated the mitotherapy on biochemistry metabolism and animal behaviors. The results showed that heterozygous mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of both aged and young mouse coexisted in tissues of aged mice after mitochondrial administration, and meanwhile, ATP content in tissues increased while reactive oxygen species (ROS) level reduced. Besides, the mitotherapy significantly improved cognitive and motor performance of aged mice. Our study, at the first report in aged animals, not only provides a useful approach to study mitochondrial function associated with aging, but also a new insight into anti-aging through mitotherapy.