Recent research has revealed new insights into a cellular stress response that is independent of the traditional “redox” pathway. This pathway, called “mito-SOS”, has been found to be activated when cells experience environmental stress, such as exposure to ultraviolet light, extreme temperatures, or toxic chemicals.

Scientists at the University of Southampton have identified a new component of this mito-SOS pathway, a protein called “Mitochondrial Protein Kinase” (MPK). MPK is responsible for regulating the production of energy in mitochondria, which is essential for cell survival.

The researchers found that when MPK was inhibited, cells were unable to respond to environmental stress, and this led to greater cell death. This suggests that MPK may be an important factor in the mito-SOS pathway, and could play a key role in developing treatments for environmental stress-related diseases.

These findings have opened up a new avenue of research, and further investigations will be needed to explore the role of MPK and its potential as a drug target.

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source: Phys.org