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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) by ChrisMaple on Saturday June 23 2018, @06:02PM (3 children)

    by ChrisMaple (6964) on Saturday June 23 2018, @06:02PM (#697282)

    No tests on humans yet, but now we know how to help prevent heart attacks in mice.

  • (Score: 4, Funny) by Adamsjas on Saturday June 23 2018, @06:58PM (1 child)

    by Adamsjas (4507) on Saturday June 23 2018, @06:58PM (#697312)

    The mice have been running experiments on humans for ages.
    Such subtlety, one has to admire it.

  • (Score: 2) by inertnet on Saturday June 23 2018, @08:43PM

    by inertnet (4071) on Saturday June 23 2018, @08:43PM (#697338) Journal

    Well don't tell them then, before those mice will raid our coffee beans.