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posted by janrinok on Saturday June 23 2018, @01:28PM   Printer-friendly
from the another-cup-please dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Caffeine consumption has been associated with lower risks for multiple diseases, including type II diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, but the mechanism underlying these protective effects has been unclear. A new study now shows that caffeine promotes the movement of a regulatory protein into mitochondria, enhancing their function and protecting cardiovascular cells from damage. The work, publishing 21 June in the open access journal PLOS Biology [...] found that the protective effect was reached at a concentration equivalent to consumption of four cups of coffee, suggesting the effect may be physiologically relevant.

The authors have previously shown that at physiologically relevant concentrations (i.e. levels reached after four or more cups of coffee) caffeine improved the functional capacity of endothelial cells, which line the interior of blood vessels, and that the effect involved mitochondria, the cell's energy powerhouses.

Here, they showed that a protein called p27, known mainly as an inhibitor of the cell cycle, was present in mitochondria in the major cell types of the heart. In these cells, mitochondrial p27 promoted migration of endothelial cells, protected heart muscle cells from cell death, and triggered the conversion of fibroblasts into cells containing contractile fibers -- all crucial for repair of heart muscle after myocardial infarction. They found that caffeine induced the movement of p27 into mitochondria, setting off this beneficial chain of events, and did so at a concentration that is reached in humans by drinking four cups of coffee. Caffeine was protective against heart damage in pre-diabetic, obese mice, and in aged mice.

Journal Reference: Niloofar Ale-Agha, et al. CDKN1B/p27 is localized in mitochondria and improves respiration-dependent processes in the cardiovascular system—New mode of action for caffeine. PLOS Biology, 2018; 16 (6): e2004408 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2004408

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: 1, Offtopic) by opinionated_science on Saturday June 23 2018, @05:08PM (7 children)

    by opinionated_science (4031) on Saturday June 23 2018, @05:08PM (#697240)

    The only way to extract energy for a Eukaryote is via the electron transport chain:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_transport_chain [wikipedia.org]

    Here's a pop question for those doing homework.

    If humans could photosynthesize, how much energy would be produced?

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  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday June 23 2018, @05:49PM (3 children)

    By this community? Not much, though I'd break the curve with as much as I go fishing.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 2) by ilPapa on Saturday June 23 2018, @07:50PM (2 children)

      by ilPapa (2366) on Saturday June 23 2018, @07:50PM (#697327) Journal

      I'd break the curve with as much as I go fishing.

      I surfed this morning off Pismo Beach. Got my dose of sunshine too. I see people fishing off the pier and I've been thinking about giving it a try, catch a few surf perch for breakfast.

      --
      You are still welcome on my lawn.
      • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday June 23 2018, @10:41PM (1 child)

        by Gaaark (41) on Saturday June 23 2018, @10:41PM (#697375) Journal

        I had slugs all over my asparagus and spent a lot of time squeezing the shit out of hundreds of these fuckers. But it was cloudy and lightly spitting rain, so very little sunshine for me.
        :(

        Fucking slug/beetle things killing my next year's harvest.....mumble grumble get off my lawn and asparagus!

        --
        --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
        • (Score: 2) by ilPapa on Saturday June 23 2018, @11:40PM

          by ilPapa (2366) on Saturday June 23 2018, @11:40PM (#697383) Journal

          I had slugs all over my asparagus and spent a lot of time squeezing the shit out of hundreds of these fuckers.

          That sounds gross in an interesting, I'd-like-to-try-it-once kind of way.

          Gotta save them asparagus.

          --
          You are still welcome on my lawn.
  • (Score: 4, Funny) by Phoenix666 on Saturday June 23 2018, @06:56PM (2 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Saturday June 23 2018, @06:56PM (#697311) Journal

    I would like to photosynthesize. It would both free me forever from the hamster wheel of modern capitalism and enable my nudism.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday June 24 2018, @12:14AM (1 child)

      by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Sunday June 24 2018, @12:14AM (#697398) Homepage Journal

      That's the stuff that makes plants green. And possibly, your skin would be green. You see people in movies, they have green skin because they're aliens. You can tell by the color which ones are aliens. And it's not a great look.

      • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 24 2018, @01:25AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 24 2018, @01:25AM (#697419)

        Forwarded by a friend earlier today--pic of a home made sign that read,

        "All in all, you're just another prick with no wall."