Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 13, 2025

Measuring Mitochondrial Function of Naïve and Effector CD8 T Cells
Published on: March 28, 2025
Linking mitochondria, fatty acids, and hematopoietic stem cell expansion during infection: implications for aging and
Katherine Hampton1, Alyssa Polski-Delve1, Charlotte Hellmich1,2
1Metabolic Health Research Centre, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7UQ, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
In steady state, hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) reside quiescently in their hypoxic niche with minimal mitochondrial activity, maintaining characteristically low levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and instead favoring glycolysis to meet their low energy requirements. However, stress, such as acute infection, triggers a state of emergency hematopoiesis during which HSCs expand more rapidly to produce up to 10-fold more downstream differentiated immune cells. To cope with this demand, HSCs increase their energy production by switching from low ATP-yielding glycolysis to high ATP-yielding mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. It is this metabolic switch that enables rapid HSC expansion and differentiation into downstream progeny to increase the immune cell pool and effectively clear the infection. This metabolic switch relies on the sufficient availability of healthy mitochondria as well as fuel in the form of free fatty acids to drive the necessary production of cellular components. This concise review aims to focus on how HSCs increase their mitochondrial content and fuel ATP production via fatty acid oxidation and the impact of HSC dysfunction during aging and other metabolic diseases.
More Related Videos
10:17Assessment of Cellular Bioenergetics in Mouse Hematopoietic Stem and Primitive Progenitor Cells using the Extracellular Flux Analyzer
Published on: September 24, 2021
05:45Author Spotlight: Unveiling Oxidative Phosphorylation System Dynamics and Mitochondrial Roles in Health and Disease
Published on: May 3, 2024
Related Concept Videos
Mitochondria
Electron Transport Chain: Complex I and II
ROS generation is regulated and maintained at moderate levels necessary...
Translocation of Proteins into the Mitochondria
Sorting of outer membrane proteins:
Mitochondrial outer membrane proteins are of two types: the transmembrane, beta-barrel porins, and the membrane-anchored, alpha-helical proteins. Beta-barrel porin precursors are translocated by the TOM complex and inserted into the outer mitochondrial membrane by the SAM complex. In contrast,...
Mitochondrial Membranes
The Inner Mitochondrial Membrane
Overview of Fatty Acid Metabolism
Fatty acids are catabolized in a process called beta-oxidation, which takes place in the matrix of the mitochondria and converts their fatty acid chains into two-carbon units of acetyl groups. The acetyl...