Open Questions: Cell Biology

Is astrocyte heterogeneity a confounding variable that limits the therapeutic benefit of ALOX15 gene therapy to specific astrocyte subpopulations, and if so, which subpopulations express sufficient AL

Does connexin-43 upregulation improve neuroprotection through mitochondrial transfer via tunneling nanotubes, or through metabolic coupling via gap junction exchange of small molecules like ATP and gl

Is Miro1 a direct regulator of intercellular mitochondrial transfer, or does it only control intracellular mitochondrial trafficking within individual cells?

What is the dominant in vivo mechanism of intercellular mitochondrial transfer: tunneling nanotubes, gap junctions, extracellular vesicles, or cell fusion?

What determines whether transferred mitochondria become functionally integrated into recipient neurons versus being degraded by host mitophagy machinery?

Do microglial extracellular vesicles contain intact functional mitochondria rather than mitochondrial fragments, DNA, or protein components that lack respiratory capacity?

What distinguishes functional mitochondrial integration into recipient cells from alternative mechanisms by which mitochondrial components (proteins, lipids, mtDNA) may confer observed neuroprotective