Creatine Supplementation and Aging Mitochondria

Creatine and aging mitochondria.

Creatine supplementation and aging mitochondria.

Implications of the capacitance hypothesis in aging mitochondria.

As we age we run out of energy. An everyday colloquial, universal refrain which brooks no exceptions. What exactly we run out of is more difficult to pin down. This post hopefully will give clear picture of what it is. It is inspired by a couple of contemporary trends: batteries and creatine supplements. Or put another way, energy storage.

A while ago I described in a previous post (Mitochondria, oscillators and broadcasters?) an electrical model of a mitochondrion. 

It was very simple: electrons were supplied in variable amounts to a capacitor which then discharged through a solenoid coil when it reached a threshold voltage.

The supply of electrons was regulated by a light dependent variable resistor; the capacitance of the ‘mitochondrion’ could  be varied; the activation of the solenoid in reaction to the discharge of the capacitor represented a transduction of energy into a form that could do work and finally a ‘bleed’ variable resistor simulated the loss of charge by a ‘leaking’ aged mitochondrial membrane.

All of the above is meant to be an analogy, in purely electrical terms, of a real mitochondrion receiving electrons from its substrates, charging the inner mitochondrial membrane and transducing its energy into the likes of ATP. 

 

As described previously, what shocked me after I chose to output to a sound file in Sonic.py, was the thumping beat of the oscillating charge and discharge, and how this sound changed its period as the ‘leak’ was increased until it collapsed into a single tone. 

Recently I sketched these results which are shown below as how I imagine it occurs in actual mitochondria.

It can be seen that as a mitochondrion becomes more prone to losing charge, leakier’, as is well known to happen in senescent mammalian cells, then the charging curve takes longer.

Clearly the next ‘dump’ of energy cannot happen until the threshold voltage for the individual as been reached. 

(In a cell containing thousands of mitochondria we are not looking at an individual but a population but nevertheless the principle will be the same for old and young mitochondrial subpopulations within a cell.)

Running out of puff = running out of Power

The power output of the mitochondria is the rate at which free energy can be drawn off, the unit is Joules per second,  commonly known as Watts. ATP the ‘free energy molecule’ can provide about 58,000 joules per mole of ATP.

From the graph you can easily see that although a fully charged mitochondrion can provide the same energy whether old or young, the longer it takes to recharge, the lower the power output.

Creatine and Batteries

Creatine is a very popular food supplement. It has been used by strength athletes foe many years but now is finding great favour as a sleep aid and calmative. Creatine stores are like batteries. Many homes nowadays have batteries to store energy in off peak times to charge their EVs for action later or indeed their heating systems. Creatine stores are analogous in that they are able to store chemical energy from ATP as Creatine phosphate which they can very rapidly give back to the ATP on demand.

Aged humans often have sleep problems. The brain needs a lot of ATP energy, 24/7. This is provided classically from glucose and ultimately by mitochondria. If the baseline power output of mitochondria in the brain is low then they will not be able to stay in sleep-mode. They will have to up their output to the minimum required by the brain. However if you have invested in a battery, then they can be supported. In fact although most creatine phosphate is stored in the muscles for instant action, five percent is stored in the brain.

It is likely that creatine supplementation in general is a good ‘battery’ support for aging mitochondria in many active tissues. Natural sources are fish, meat and dairy ( herring being foremost) but to get large amounts you need the white powder supplement. Given the above post it will be interesting to see how supplementation pans out long term.