A question has arisen in me when reading the last posts:
Do you know if stem cells have a mechanism for repairing damaged mitochondria?
I remember reading that they suffer less ROS than somatic cells, but that they can also suffer DNA damage.
It would be great to know that stem cells can effectively repair their nuclear and mitochondrial DNA damage.
Yes they can get rid of damaged mitochondria, but only during differentiation. As I noted in post 56 -- And there's a second advantage to asymmetric division as defective mitochondria are partitioned to the somatic daughter where mito QC can get rid of them.
Here is the reference--
By dividing asymmetrically, stem cells can generate two daughter cells with distinct fates. However, evidence is limited in mammalian systems for the selective apportioning of subcellular contents between daughters. We followed the fates of old and young organelles during the division of human mammary stem-like cells and found that such cells apportion aged mitochondria asymmetrically between daughter cells. Daughter cells that received fewer old mitochondria maintained stem cell traits. Inhibition of mitochondrial fission disrupted both the age-dependent sub-cellular localization and segregation of mitochondria, and caused loss of stem cell properties in the progeny cells. Hence, mechanisms exist for mammalian stem-like cells to asymmetrically sort aged and young mitochondria, and these are important for maintaining stemness properties.
https://www.ncbi.nlm...les/PMC4405120/