The Role of Mitokines in Diabetic Nephropathy.
Yang. Ming M; Chen. Wei W; He. Liyu L; Wang. Xi X; Liu. Di D; Xiao. Li L; Sun. Lin L
Key Findings
- Mitochondrial stress releases proteins/peptides (mitokines) that affect distant tissues
- Mitokines have been linked to the development and progression of diabetic nephropathy
- Humanin and other mitokines are being explored as possible therapeutic targets for kidney disease
Practical Outcomes
- For now, the takeaway is that mitokines are a promising research area, but there are no ready‑to‑use protocols. Biohackers should watch for future studies that might translate these signals into supplements or drugs, especially regarding humanin.
Summary
This paper reviews how stress signals from mitochondria, called mitokines, can travel between organs and may play a role in diabetic kidney disease. It highlights that these signals, including the peptide humanin, could become future drug targets, but it doesn’t give any concrete dosing or treatment advice for now.
Abstract
Diabetic nephropathy (DN) has gradually become one of the main causes of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). However, there is still a lack of effective preventive measures to delay its progression. As the energy factory in the cell, mitochondria play an irreplaceable role in maintaining cell homeostasis. Interestingly, recent studies have shown that in addition to maintaining homeostasis in cells in which mitochondria reside, when mitochondrial perturbations occur in one tissue, distal tissues can also sense and act through mitochondrial stress response pathways through a group of proteins or peptides called "mitokines". Here, we reviewed the mitokines that have been found thus far and summarized their research progress in DN. Finally, we explored the possibility of mitokines as potential therapeutic targets for DN.
Study Information
pubmed
2025
2023-10-26T00:00:00.000Z
10.2174/0109298673255403230919061828
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