Volkmar Weissig: Cellular Uptake of Isolated Mitochondria and Its Implications for Mitochondrial Transfer
Volkmar Weissig, President of World Mitochondria Society, Professor of Pharmacology at Midwestern University, shared a post on LinkedIn about a recent article he and his colleagues co-authored, adding:
“In 2006 one of my Ph.D. students discovered by accident that mammalian cells seem to be able to internalize exogeneous mitochondria.
We tried to modify mitochondria with TAT peptides in order to make their cellular uptake possible, as we have done earlier with liposomes:
To our excitement, the results supported our hypothesis.
‘Unfortunately,’ the control (naked mitochondria without TAT) gave the same result.
I didn’t believe my student, told him he has messed up the labeling, and he had to repeat the experiment countless times, including additional controls.
Finally, we were convinced that cells can internalize isolated ‘naked’ mitochondria.
We had troubles to find a journal for it, because extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence…
Thanks to Aubrey de Grey who accepted our manuscript.
And thanks again to our co-author Keshav K Singh who provided us with mtDNA depleted cells.
Our paper was one of the very first describing the cellular uptake of isolated mitochondria.
Since we didn’t realize back then the huge potential such an approach might have, I abandoned my work on this at that time curious phenomenon….
Today this approach is getting close to becoming mainstream medicine and unfortunately, our what I dare to call (in hindsight) pioneering paper is only very rarely cited if at all.”
Title: TAT peptide on the surface of liposomes affords their efficient intracellular delivery even at low temperature and in the presence of metabolic inhibitors
Authors: Vladimir P. Torchilin, Ram Rammohan, Volkmar Weissig, Tatyana S. Levchenko
Read the Full Article on PNAS
Title: Xenogenic Transfer of Isolated Murine Mitochondria into Human ρ0 Cells Can Improve Respiratory Function
Authors: Eyad Katrangi, Gerard D’Souza, Sarathi V. Boddapati, Mariola Kulawiec, Keshav K. Singh, Brian Bigger, Volkmar Weissig
Read the Full Article on Rejuvenation Research
Stay updated on all scientific advances with Hemostasis Today.
-
Jun 27, 2026, 18:19Nabil Tabish: The Paradox of Zero – Investigating Extreme VWF Discordance
-
Jun 27, 2026, 18:19Francesco Favruzzo: Can Mechanical Thrombectomy Be Safely Used in Cervical Artery Dissection?
-
Jun 27, 2026, 18:18Vera Ghali: 2026 ASH–ISTH Recommendations on Pediatric VTE Prevention
-
Jun 27, 2026, 18:17Michiel Coppens: A Hemostasis Laboratory – One of the Cornerstones of Our Hemophilia Mission
-
Jun 27, 2026, 18:16Sthanu Subramanian: Dabigatran and Mechanical Heart Valves
-
Jun 27, 2026, 15:50Muhammet Özbilen: The Skin as an Emerging Regulator of Iron Homeostasis
-
Jun 27, 2026, 15:07Anteneh Berhane: Supporting Healthier Pregnancies Through Early Nutrition
-
Jun 27, 2026, 14:35Mobina Nakhaei: Why Alloantibodies Develop Despite ABO/Rh Matching in Thalassemia
-
Jun 27, 2026, 14:01Abdul Mannan: DOACs in Cancer-Associated VTE – When to Avoid Them, And When LMWH Wins