Mitochondrial Capsule Transplantation: Opening a New Chapter in the Treatment of Mitochondrial Diseases and Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

Mitochondrial transplantation has significant potential for treating mitochondrial diseases but the application bottleneck lies in how to efficiently deliver exogenous mitochondria to somatic cells or tissues, which continues to be a major challenge. Recently, Du et al. pioneered the use of blood-derived red blood cell membranes to encapsulate healthy mitochondria, thus creating “mitochondrial capsules.” This breakthrough enabled efficient mitochondrial transplantation and introduced the new concept of “organelle therapy.” Using this mitochondrial transplantation method, significant therapeutic effects have been achieved in the treatment of mitochondrial diseases and Parkinson’s disease.