Mitochondria contain the tiny power plants that churn out life-sustaining energy molecules in our cells. In 2016, the lab of HMS geneticist Stirling Churchman showed that in yeast, cell nuclei and mitochondria coordinate their gene activity to build these power plants. Now the lab has revealed further details in human cells — uncovering unexpected swings in each organelle's protein production processes that ultimately balance out for healthy cell function.

"It’s wild that the rates are so different and in the end they still end up at the same point," said first author Erik McShane, EMBO postdoctoral fellow in the Churchman lab.

The work deepens understanding of how mitochondria and nuclear gene activity coordinate in healthy cells and how imbalances can lead to mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular aging, and diseases of energy metabolism, including neurodegeneration. Such knowledge provides a foundation for researchers to one day develop ways to prevent or treat such conditions.

Findings were published in Molecular Cell.