The Iron-Sulfur Cluster Crisis: Why Your Mitochondria Can't Recover (And Why Practitioners Don't Talk About It) — What Are Iron-Sulfur Clusters, and Why Should You Care?

Iron-sulfur clusters (Fe-S clusters) are not some exotic compound. They&#8217;re the workhorses of mitochondrial function&#8212;literally atoms of iron and sulfur bonded together to form functional clusters that sit at the heart of nearly every energy-producing enzyme in your cells. Think of them as the rivets holding together the electron transport chain. Your Complex I, II, and III&#8212;the machinery that pumps protons and generates the voltage that powers ATP synthesis&#8212;depend on Fe-S clusters to function. So does aconitase (in the Krebs cycle), which converts citrate into isocitrate. So does multiple enzymes involved in amino acid metabolism, DNA repair, and detoxification. Without intact Fe-S clusters, your mitochondrial engine doesn&#8217;t just run slowly. It stalls.