Restricting feeding in mice to an 8-9 hour window improved endurance | Satchin Panda
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Mitochondria are tiny organelles inside cells that produce energy in the presence of oxygen. Having healthy mitochondria is critical to endurance exercise, which utilizes an enormous amount of energy. When mice are restricted to a 9-hour window of feeding, their mitochondrial function in multiple tissues increases, and mitochondrial biogenesis – the production of new mitochondria – is enhanced. In this clip, Dr. Satchin Panda describes the beneficial effects of time-restricted feeding in mice in terms of mitochondrial health.
-Rhonda: You also found that animals that were fed during a nine-hour period had improved endurance.
Satchin: Yeah.
Rhonda: Not improved muscle strength, but improved endurance, and to me, when I read this, I thought, "Oh, well, if you think about endurance, endurance is aerobic. It requires aerobic respiration, which means it requires oxygen, which means it requires mitochondria because mitochondria are what make energy in the presence of oxygen." So have you thought about looking…and this kind of goes along with your NAD hypothesis, but had you looked at mitochondrial biogenesis, mitochondrial function? ` Satchin: Yeah, so the endurance is a very interesting aspect because we see that only when mice eat for eight to nine hours. We don't see that improved endurance when they eat for 12 hours, although their body weight is maintained as nine hours. So this was interesting. So that's why, as you pointed out, clearly mitochondria might be playing a role, and in fact, in liver we do see increased mitochondria volume, and increased endoplasmic reticulum volume, so ER and mitochondria kind of work together. That's what we are learning these days. So the mitochondria volume increases. Another thing is we do see less damaged mitochondria in liver when they eat only from eight to nine hours.
Second thing is this mitochondrial effect is not restricted only to liver. We do see increased mitochondrial volume in brown adipose tissue, so in brown fat. As you know, these mitochondria have kind of dissipate until they are literally burning the fat. So, at least in two different organs, we have seen increased mitochondrial volume. That correlates with increased level of PGC-1alpha that's involved in mitochondria biogenesis. So, there is all these links that we are seeing and that are also giving us clue where to look for the mechanism. For example, why PGC-1 level goes up and what triggers that to go up.
A metabolic process that produces energy using oxygen. During aerobic respiration, the body metabolizes glucose to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is necessary to power the chemical reactions cells needs to survive. Aerobic respiration is much more efficient and produces ATP much more quickly than anaerobic respiration (respiration without oxygen) because oxygen is an excellent electron acceptor for the chemical reaction. Aerobic respiration takes place in the mitochondria and requires oxygen and glucose, and it produces carbon dioxide, water, and energy.
One of two types of fat, or adipose, tissue (the other being white adipose tissue, or white fat) found in mammals. The primary function of brown adipose tissue is to generate body heat. In contrast to white adipocytes (fat cells), which contain a single lipid droplet, brown adipocytes contain numerous smaller droplets and a much higher number of mitochondria, which make it brown. Brown fat also contains more capillaries than white fat, since it has a greater need for oxygen than most tissues.
A type of organelle in the cells of eukaryotic organisms that forms as interconnected network of flattened, membrane-enclosed sacs or tube-like structures known as cisternae. Rough ER is studded with ribosomes and is the site of protein synthesis, whereas smooth ER functions in lipid manufacture and metabolism.
Tiny organelles inside cells that produce energy in the presence of oxygen. Mitochondria are referred to as the "powerhouses of the cell" because of their role in the production of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Mitochondria are continuously undergoing a process of self-renewal known as mitophagy in order to repair damage that occurs during their energy-generating activities.
The process by which new mitochondria are made inside cells. Many factors can activate mitochondrial biogenesis including exercise, cold shock, heat shock, fasting, and ketones. Mitochondrial biogenesis is regulated by the transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha, or PGC-1α.
The master regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis. PGC-1α is activated in human skeletal muscle in response to endurance exercise. It is strongly induced by cold exposure, linking this environmental stimulus to adaptive thermogenesis. PGC-1a has been implicated as a potential therapy for Parkinson's disease by conferring protective effects on mitochondrial metabolism.
Restricting the timing of food intake to certain hours of the day (typically within an 8- to 12-hour time window that begins with the first food or non-water drink) without an overt attempt to reduce caloric intake. TRE is a type of intermittent fasting. It may trigger some beneficial health effects, such as reduced fat mass, increased lean muscle mass, reduced inflammation, improved heart function with age, increased mitochondrial volume, ketone body production, improved repair processes, and aerobic endurance improvements. Some of these effects still need to be replicated in human trials.
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