Breakthrough Tracker record
Mitochondrial plaques were described in Alzheimer’s models and postmortem human brains
Researchers found large accumulations of acidic and neutral mitochondria inside neuronal processes in two Alzheimer’s mouse models and in postmortem human tissue. They named the structures mitochondrial plaques and linked their persistence to delayed lysosomal recruitment and incomplete mitochondrial degradation.
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- Stable ID
medicine-alzheimer-mitochondrial-plaques-2026- Revision
medicine-alzheimer-mitochondrial-plaques-2026.v1- Field
- Medicine · Alzheimer’s disease and cellular neuropathology
- Evidence
- Tier 1 · Peer reviewed: Yes
- Record state
- Current · Peer-reviewed result
- Last checked
AI role
No AI role was disclosed in the inspected article.
Record details
- Problem or result
- A newly described mitochondrial-rich pathological structure associated with impaired mitophagy and lysosomal function in Alzheimer’s disease
- Authors
- Xiuli Dan, Deborah L. Croteau, Wenlong Liu, Xixia Chu, Ross A. McDevitt, Paul D. Robbins and Vilhelm A. Bohr
- Institutions
- National Institute on Aging, NIH; National Cancer Institute, NIH; University of Minnesota; University of Copenhagen
- Result date
- Published July 29, 2026
Why it matters
The structures sometimes appeared before or apart from amyloid plaques in the mouse models, offering a concrete tissue-level feature through which mitochondrial and lysosomal dysfunction can be studied alongside established Alzheimer’s pathology.
Limits
Most mechanistic evidence comes from transgenic mouse models. Human validation used postmortem tissue from four Alzheimer’s cases and four controls, so independent replication, disease-specificity and clinical relevance remain unresolved. The study does not show that the structures cause cognitive decline or provide a validated diagnostic or treatment target.
Sources
- Primary: Dan and colleagues, Mitochondrial accumulation and lysosomal dysfunction result in mitochondrial plaques in Alzheimer’s disease
- Open data record: NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus record GSE245929 cited by the study
Correction and revision history
- 2026-07-29 — Added after peer-reviewed publication, with the mouse-model dependence, eight-person postmortem comparison and unproved clinical relevance stated explicitly.
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