Dr. Soleimanpour will discuss Mitochondrial and the regulation of cell fate in metabolic tissues.

Metabolic tissues are extraordinarily sensitive to mitochondrial damage, however the consequences of mitochondrial damage are frequently unclear. We will discuss the role that mitochondrial quality control plays in engaging a retrograde (mitonuclear) signaling program to regulate cellular identity and maturity broadly across metabolic tissues. Implications of targeting mitochondrial programming to improve metabolic disease will also be discussed.

Dr. McCully will discuss Mitochondrial Transplantation for Donor Organ Preservation.

To ameliorate the effects of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) we have utilized a novel therapeutic approach, mitochondrial transplantation, in which myocardial mitochondria damaged by ischemia/reperfusion injury are replaced or augmented with viable, respiration competent mitochondria obtained from the patient’s own body. The efficacy of mitochondrial transplantation has been demonstrated in in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies to rescue cells and significantly enhance functional recovery. In a series of studies, we have demonstrated that mitochondrial transplantation enhances cardiac viability and function through direct transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolic pathway modulation allowing for adaptive cellular response to ischemia and reperfusion. The importance of these mechanisms and their implications for current and potential clinical applications will be discussed.

• Explain the role of mitochondrial quality control and retrograde (mitonuclear) signaling in regulating cell fate and identity within metabolic tissues.
• Evaluate how mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to metabolic disease and identify potential strategies for therapeutic targeting.
• Describe the principles and mechanisms of mitochondrial transplantation for donor organ preservation, particularly in the context of ischemia/reperfusion injury.
• Assess preclinical and clinical evidence supporting mitochondrial transplantation as a novel therapeutic approach to enhance cellular viability and function.