Andrea Lius in The Scientist:
Fast-acting cells, such as sensory neurons, require a lot of energy to function, so they have a high demand for mitochondria. But how do these cells generate and maintain enough of these powerhouse organelles to sustain themselves?
Ru-Rong Ji, a pain researcher at Duke University, and his colleagues recently discovered that glial cells that surround sensory neurons play a critical role in this process: They transfer mitochondria to their neighbors.1 When the researchers blocked this process in mice, the animals experienced more nerve damage and pain. These findings, published in Nature, highlight mitochondrial transfer as a possible solution for treating chronic pain in humans.
More here.
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