Pennsylvania: The Neurodegenerative disease is an umbrella term for a range of conditions which primarily affect the neurons which are the building blocks of the nervous system. Neurons normally don't reproduce or replace themselves, so when they become damaged or die they cannot be replaced by the body.
Researchers at Kazan University proved that water-soluble polyol-methanofullerenes can decrease mitochondrial transmembrane potential. This makes them promising in the creation of targeted mitochondrial medications and composites based on them.
There is currently no doubt that hyperpolarization of mitochondria and concomitant oxidative stress is associated with the development of serious pathologies, such as Alzheimer's disease, some cancers, and other conditions.
Hyperpolarized mitochondria have an elevated transmembrane potential because of the excess of H+ ions in the intermembrane space in comparison with the matrix. Protonophores decrease the mitochondrial potential by facilitating electrogenic transport of protons through the inner mitochondrial membrane.
It is also described that water-soluble polyol-methanofullerenes as soft protonophores because they can accept H+ ions only in hyperpolarized mitochondria and cannot penetrate normally polarized mitochondria.
The findings are published in the journal Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters.
