Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Viewpoint
  • Published:

Mitochondria transfer

This article has been updated

Intercellular mitochondria transfer has recently attracted substantial attention, both from a fundamental and therapeutic point of view. At the same time, the topic continues to be met with scepticism. In this Viewpoint, different experts in mitochondrial biology share their personal view on the topic.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Change history

  • 01 September 2025

    In the version of the article initially published, Janine H. Santos’s affiliation was incorrect and has now been amended to “Mechanistic Toxicology Branch, Division of Translational Toxicology, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Durham, NC, USA” in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

References

  1. Zhou, B. & Tian, R. J. Clin. Invest. 128, 3716–3726 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Dorn, G. W. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1833, 233–241 (2013).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Gottlieb, R. A. & Gustafsson, A. B. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1813, 1295–1301 (2011).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Emani, S. M., Piekarski, B. L., Harrild, D., Del Nido, P. J. & McCully, J. D. J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. 154, 286–289 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Emani, S. M. & McCully, J. D. Transl. Pediatr. 2, 169–175 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Nakai, R. et al. Nat. Metab. 6, 1886–1896 (2024).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Navdeep S. Chandel, Marni J. Falk, Janine H. Santos, Jonathan R. Brestoff, Ana V. Lechuga-Vieco, Yasemin S. Sancak, Quan Chen, Alvaro A. Elorza or Rubén Quintana-Cabrera.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

M.J.F. has served as a paid consultant with Minovia Therapeutics (last in 2021) and Imel Therapeutics (last in 2022), and has served as a preclinical stage research collaborator with Minovia Therapeutics (last in 2022) and Imel Therapeutics (last in 2022). M.J.F is also engaged with biopharma companies involved in mitochondrial disease therapeutic preclinical and/or clinical-stage development, including as co-founder and Chief Scientific Advisor of Rarefy Therapeutics; an advisory board member with equity interest in RiboNova; a scientific advisory board member and paid consultant with Khondrion and Larimar Therapeutics; a paid consultant for Astellas (formerly MitoBridge), Ajinomoto Cambrooke, Casma Therapeutics, Cyclerion Therapeutics, Imel Therapeutics, Mayflower, Minovia Therapeutics, Mission Therapeutics, Myto Therapeutics, NeuroVive Pharmaceutical, Precision Biosciences, Primera Therapeutics, Reneo Therapeutics, Saol Therapeutics, Stealth BioTherapeutics, and Vincere Bio; and/or a sponsored research collaborator for Adjuvia Therapeutics, Astellas, Cyclerion Therapeutics, Epirium Bio, Imel Therapeutics, Khondrion, Merck, Minovia Therapeutics, Mission Therapeutics, NeuroVive Pharmaceutical, PTC Therapeutics, Reneo Therapeutics, RiboNova, Saol Therapeutics, Standigm, and Stealth BioTherapeutics. M.J.F has also received royalties from Elsevier, and speaker fees from Agios Pharmaceuticals and GenoMind. J.R.B. is a member of the scientific advisory board of LUCA Science; receives research support from LUCA Science and Edgewise Therapeutics; is a consultant for Columbus Instruments; receives royalties from Springer Nature Group; is an inventor on technology licensed to Columbus Instruments with royalty rights; is an inventor on pending patent applications related to the treatment of metabolic diseases (63/625,555), allergic diseases (US20210128689A1) and mitochondrial transfer (018984/US). The remaining authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chandel, N.S., Falk, M.J., Santos, J.H. et al. Mitochondria transfer. Nat Metab 7, 1716–1719 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-025-01364-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-025-01364-0

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing