USA Researchers Awarded Grants

The U.S. Department of Defense recently awarded researchers at the University of South Alabama (USA) College of Medicine two grants totaling more than $1.07 million to study the replication of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Dr. Mikhail Alexeyev, professor of physiology and cell biology at the college, is principal investigator of the studies. Natalya Kozhukhar, a research technologist, and Viktoriya Pastukh, a research assistant, are working with Alexeyev on the projects. The mitochondria’s main function is to produce energy for the cell. Mitochondrial diseases are a group of inherited genetic disorders that can cause a wide range of health concerns. To treat mitochondrial diseases, scientists first must understand how mtDNA makes copies of itself. Alexeyev’s lab has succeeded in generating human/mouse hybrid cells that maintained human mtDNA for more than a year. Although the approaches are different, the aim of both funded studies is similar: to find out why mouse non-hybrid cells do not replicate human mtDNA.