Recommendations for mitochondria transfer and transplantation nomenclature and characterization

Jonathan R. Brestoff; Keshav K. Singh; Katia Aquilano; Lance B. Becker; Michael V. Berridge; Eric Boilard; Andrés Caicedo; Clair Crewe; José Antonio Enríquez; Jianqing Gao; Åsa B. Gustafsson; Kazuhide Hayakawa; Maroun Khoury; Yun Sil Lee; Daniele Lettieri-Barbato; Patricia Luz-Crawford; Heidi M. McBride; James D. McCully; Ritsuko Nakai; Jiri Neuzil; Martin Picard; Alexander G. Rabchevsky; Anne Marie Rodriguez; Shiladitya Sengupta; Alexander J. Sercel; Toshio Suda; Michael A. Teitell; Alain R. Thierry; Rong Tian; Melanie Walker; Minghao Zheng

doi:10.1038/s42255-024-01200-x

Recommendations for mitochondria transfer and transplantation nomenclature and characterization

Jonathan R. Brestoff
, Keshav K. Singh
, Katia Aquilano
, Lance B. Becker
, Michael V. Berridge
, Eric Boilard
, Andrés Caicedo
, Clair Crewe
, José Antonio Enríquez
, Jianqing Gao
, Åsa B. Gustafsson
, Kazuhide Hayakawa
, Maroun Khoury
, Yun Sil Lee
, Daniele Lettieri-Barbato
, Patricia Luz-Crawford
, Heidi M. McBride
, James D. McCully
, Ritsuko Nakai
, Jiri Neuzil

Martin Picard, Alexander G. Rabchevsky, Anne Marie Rodriguez, Shiladitya Sengupta, Alexander J. Sercel, Toshio Suda, Michael A. Teitell, Alain R. Thierry, Rong Tian, Melanie Walker, Minghao Zheng

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

90 Scopus citations

Abstract

Intercellular mitochondria transfer is an evolutionarily conserved process in which one cell delivers some of their mitochondria to another cell in the absence of cell division. This process has diverse functions depending on the cell types involved and physiological or disease context. Although mitochondria transfer was first shown to provide metabolic support to acceptor cells, recent studies have revealed diverse functions of mitochondria transfer, including, but not limited to, the maintenance of mitochondria quality of the donor cell and the regulation of tissue homeostasis and remodelling. Many mitochondria-transfer mechanisms have been described using a variety of names, generating confusion about mitochondria transfer biology. Furthermore, several therapeutic approaches involving mitochondria-transfer biology have emerged, including mitochondria transplantation and cellular engineering using isolated mitochondria. In this Consensus Statement, we define relevant terminology and propose a nomenclature framework to describe mitochondria transfer and transplantation as a foundation for further development by the community as this dynamic field of research continues to evolve.

Original language	English
Article number	31
Pages (from-to)	53-67
Number of pages	15
Journal	Nature Metabolism
Volume	7
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-024-01200-x
State	Published - Jan 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2025.

Funding

The authors completed this work as the ICMTTN. We extend our thanks and appreciation to D. Brierton (Washington University School of Medicine) for her exceptional administrative support of this international effort. We also thank G. Freedman (MitoWorld and the National Laboratory for Education Transformation) for hosting the public commenting period on www.mitoworld.org and Z. Kirshner (Kirshner Design, kirshnerdesign.com ) for website design and support. We thank the individuals and groups who submitted comments during the public commenting period. Costs associated with this publication were paid for by a grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (CAMS, 1019648) to J.R.B. J.R.B. is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of LUCA Science, Inc.; receives research support from LUCA Science and Edgewise Therapeutics; is a consultant for Columbus Instruments, Inc.; has consulted for DeciBio within the past 12 months; receives royalties from Springer Nature Group; is an inventor on technology licensed to Columbus Instruments, Inc. with royalty rights; is an inventor on pending patent applications related to the treatment of metabolic diseases (63/625,555) and allergic diseases (US20210128689A1) and mitochondria transfer (018984/US); and is a co-founder and holds equity in Symbiogenix, Inc. K.K.S. is a co-founder, holds equity in, and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for YUVA Biosciences. E.B. holds patents on detection of extracellular mitochondria in inflammatory conditions (WO2015051466A1) and on mitochondrial autoantibodies in autoimmune diseases (WO2022/246565A1), and is a principal investigator and scientific advisor to MitrixBio. L.B. receives grant support from Philips Medical Systems, ZOLL Medical Corp, Nihon Kohden, PCORI, BrainCool and United Therapeutics; is on the Scientific Advisory Board for Nihon Kohden, HP and Philips; holds seven issued patents and several pending patent applications involving the use of medical slurries as human coolant devices, the creation of slurries, reperfusion cocktails, and measurement of respiratory quotient; and serves on committees for the American Heart Association, which has a financial interest in the outcome of resuscitation studies being conducted and that sells training materials worldwide on resuscitation techniques. A.C. is a founder of and scientific advisor to Dragon Biomed and a scientific advisor to Luvigix. J.A.E. has collaborated with Minova Therapeutics. Å.B.G. is a consultant for Lexeo Therapeutics. J.D.M. has pending patents for the isolation and use of isolated mitochondria and is a founder and member of the Scientific Advisory Board and Board of Directors for cellvie. M.K. is the chief scientific officer of Cells for Cells, EVast Bio, and Regenero (Chilean consortium for regenerative medicine) with Corporación de Fomento de la Producción support; has received research support from ANID (National Agency for Research and Development) basal FB210024 and Cells for Cells; is an inventor on patents related to mesenchymal stem cells (pending patents WO2014135924A1, WO20170646770A2, WO2017064672A1 and WO2019051623). R.N. receives research support from LUCA Science, Inc. A.J.S. is an employee of MitoWorld. M.A.T. is a co-founder and shareholder for NanoCav, a private start-up company with licences for mitochondria-transfer techniques and applications. A.R.T. is an inventor of a pending patent related to the diagnostic detection of cf-mtDNA (WO 2016/063122 A1). R.T. is a scientific advisor for Cytokinetics, Inc. and GenKardia, Inc. M.W. has a pending patent (US20210085713A1) related to compositions and methods for treating stroke. The other authors declare no competing interests.

Funders	Funder number
Burroughs Wellcome Fund
LUCA Science, Inc.
Chinese American Medical Society	1019648
Chinese American Medical Society

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Internal Medicine
Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
Physiology (medical)
Cell Biology

Access to Document

10.1038/s42255-024-01200-x

Cite this

Brestoff, J. R., Singh, K. K., Aquilano, K., Becker, L. B., Berridge, M. V., Boilard, E., Caicedo, A., Crewe, C., Enríquez, J. A., Gao, J., Gustafsson, Å. B., Hayakawa, K., Khoury, M., Lee, Y. S., Lettieri-Barbato, D., Luz-Crawford, P., McBride, H. M., McCully, J. D., Nakai, R., ... Zheng, M. (2025). Recommendations for mitochondria transfer and transplantation nomenclature and characterization. Nature Metabolism, 7(1), 53-67. Article 31. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-024-01200-x

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title = "Recommendations for mitochondria transfer and transplantation nomenclature and characterization",

abstract = "Intercellular mitochondria transfer is an evolutionarily conserved process in which one cell delivers some of their mitochondria to another cell in the absence of cell division. This process has diverse functions depending on the cell types involved and physiological or disease context. Although mitochondria transfer was first shown to provide metabolic support to acceptor cells, recent studies have revealed diverse functions of mitochondria transfer, including, but not limited to, the maintenance of mitochondria quality of the donor cell and the regulation of tissue homeostasis and remodelling. Many mitochondria-transfer mechanisms have been described using a variety of names, generating confusion about mitochondria transfer biology. Furthermore, several therapeutic approaches involving mitochondria-transfer biology have emerged, including mitochondria transplantation and cellular engineering using isolated mitochondria. In this Consensus Statement, we define relevant terminology and propose a nomenclature framework to describe mitochondria transfer and transplantation as a foundation for further development by the community as this dynamic field of research continues to evolve.",

author = "Brestoff, \{Jonathan R.\} and Singh, \{Keshav K.\} and Katia Aquilano and Becker, \{Lance B.\} and Berridge, \{Michael V.\} and Eric Boilard and Andr{\'e}s Caicedo and Clair Crewe and Enr{\'i}quez, \{Jos{\'e} Antonio\} and Jianqing Gao and Gustafsson, \{{\AA}sa B.\} and Kazuhide Hayakawa and Maroun Khoury and Lee, \{Yun Sil\} and Daniele Lettieri-Barbato and Patricia Luz-Crawford and McBride, \{Heidi M.\} and McCully, \{James D.\} and Ritsuko Nakai and Jiri Neuzil and Martin Picard and Rabchevsky, \{Alexander G.\} and Rodriguez, \{Anne Marie\} and Shiladitya Sengupta and Sercel, \{Alexander J.\} and Toshio Suda and Teitell, \{Michael A.\} and Thierry, \{Alain R.\} and Rong Tian and Melanie Walker and Minghao Zheng",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2025.",

year = "2025",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1038/s42255-024-01200-x",

language = "English",

volume = "7",

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Brestoff, JR, Singh, KK, Aquilano, K, Becker, LB, Berridge, MV, Boilard, E, Caicedo, A, Crewe, C, Enríquez, JA, Gao, J, Gustafsson, ÅB, Hayakawa, K, Khoury, M, Lee, YS, Lettieri-Barbato, D, Luz-Crawford, P, McBride, HM, McCully, JD, Nakai, R, Neuzil, J, Picard, M, Rabchevsky, AG, Rodriguez, AM, Sengupta, S, Sercel, AJ, Suda, T, Teitell, MA, Thierry, AR, Tian, R, Walker, M & Zheng, M 2025, 'Recommendations for mitochondria transfer and transplantation nomenclature and characterization', Nature Metabolism, vol. 7, no. 1, 31, pp. 53-67. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-024-01200-x

TY - JOUR

T1 - Recommendations for mitochondria transfer and transplantation nomenclature and characterization

AU - Brestoff, Jonathan R.

AU - Singh, Keshav K.

AU - Aquilano, Katia

AU - Becker, Lance B.

AU - Berridge, Michael V.

AU - Boilard, Eric

AU - Caicedo, Andrés

AU - Crewe, Clair

AU - Enríquez, José Antonio

AU - Gao, Jianqing

AU - Gustafsson, Åsa B.

AU - Hayakawa, Kazuhide

AU - Khoury, Maroun

AU - Lee, Yun Sil

AU - Lettieri-Barbato, Daniele

AU - Luz-Crawford, Patricia

AU - McBride, Heidi M.

AU - McCully, James D.

AU - Nakai, Ritsuko

AU - Neuzil, Jiri

AU - Picard, Martin

AU - Rabchevsky, Alexander G.

AU - Rodriguez, Anne Marie

AU - Sengupta, Shiladitya

AU - Sercel, Alexander J.

AU - Suda, Toshio

AU - Teitell, Michael A.

AU - Thierry, Alain R.

AU - Tian, Rong

AU - Walker, Melanie

AU - Zheng, Minghao

PY - 2025/1

Y1 - 2025/1

N2 - Intercellular mitochondria transfer is an evolutionarily conserved process in which one cell delivers some of their mitochondria to another cell in the absence of cell division. This process has diverse functions depending on the cell types involved and physiological or disease context. Although mitochondria transfer was first shown to provide metabolic support to acceptor cells, recent studies have revealed diverse functions of mitochondria transfer, including, but not limited to, the maintenance of mitochondria quality of the donor cell and the regulation of tissue homeostasis and remodelling. Many mitochondria-transfer mechanisms have been described using a variety of names, generating confusion about mitochondria transfer biology. Furthermore, several therapeutic approaches involving mitochondria-transfer biology have emerged, including mitochondria transplantation and cellular engineering using isolated mitochondria. In this Consensus Statement, we define relevant terminology and propose a nomenclature framework to describe mitochondria transfer and transplantation as a foundation for further development by the community as this dynamic field of research continues to evolve.

AB - Intercellular mitochondria transfer is an evolutionarily conserved process in which one cell delivers some of their mitochondria to another cell in the absence of cell division. This process has diverse functions depending on the cell types involved and physiological or disease context. Although mitochondria transfer was first shown to provide metabolic support to acceptor cells, recent studies have revealed diverse functions of mitochondria transfer, including, but not limited to, the maintenance of mitochondria quality of the donor cell and the regulation of tissue homeostasis and remodelling. Many mitochondria-transfer mechanisms have been described using a variety of names, generating confusion about mitochondria transfer biology. Furthermore, several therapeutic approaches involving mitochondria-transfer biology have emerged, including mitochondria transplantation and cellular engineering using isolated mitochondria. In this Consensus Statement, we define relevant terminology and propose a nomenclature framework to describe mitochondria transfer and transplantation as a foundation for further development by the community as this dynamic field of research continues to evolve.

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JO - Nature Metabolism

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Recommendations for mitochondria transfer and transplantation nomenclature and characterization

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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