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Wait, how do the mitochondria get back into the cells? Presumably the cell membrane somehow permits them to pass but how are they recognized? If a mechanism exi
by cromwellian 8y ago
Wait, how do the mitochondria get back into the cells? Presumably the cell membrane somehow permits them to pass but how are they recognized? If a mechanism exists to recognize and permit them to move into a cell, doesn’t that either suggest they can move out of cells as well and/or confirm the theory that mitochondria were symbiotes? That is, there’s something in cell DNA that encodes a mechanism for foreign symbiotes to cross the cell membrane?
- 88e282102ae2e5b 8y agoI was also surprised by this. In the papers where they did this work, they discuss many previously-known mechanisms for intercellular mitochondrial transfer - apparently cells can form nanotubes and exchange organelles, and that's relatively well-studied. That's not what's happening here, though, and they state that the mechanism at play is unknown.