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Membrane Deformability and Membrane Tension of Single Isolated Mitochondria

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Abstract

Mitochondria dynamics is crucial to many biological processes such as mitochondria fusion and fission, which is highly correlated to the mechanics of single mitochondria. However, the mechanobiological coupling of mitochondria has been poorly understood. Here membrane deformability and membrane tension of individual mitochondria isolated from MtDsRed labeled human embryonic T-Rex-293 kidney cells were measured using a micropipette aspiration assay. The results demonstrated that membrane deformation of isolated mitochondria exhibited an elastic transition phase followed by an equilibrium phase, and mitochondrial membrane tension was proportional to the area compressibility. It was also indicated that mitochondrial membrane deformability was significantly affected by physical–chemical factors such as osmotic pressure or pH value, and was further correlated to mitochondrial functionality in different respiratory states and Ca2+ regulation. These findings provide a new insight into understanding the mechanical regulation of mitochondrial physiology.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Center of Electron Microscopy, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences to provide TEM device, and to Lei Sun for TEM sample preparation, observation and useful discussions. This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China grants 10332060 and 30730032, National Key Basic Research Foundation of China grant 2006CB910303, and Chinese Academy of Sciences grant 2005-1-16 (M.L.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Microgravity Laboratory, Center for Biomechanics and Bioengineering, Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China

    Shiqi Wang, Yan Zhang, Juan Chen & Mian Long

  2. The Laboratory of Apoptosis and Cancer Biology, The National Key Laboratory of Biomembrane and Membrane Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, P.R. China

    Chunsun Jiang, Bin Wang & Quan Chen

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  1. Shiqi Wang
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  2. Chunsun Jiang
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  3. Yan Zhang
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  4. Juan Chen
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  5. Bin Wang
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  7. Mian Long
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Correspondence to Mian Long.

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Wang, S., Jiang, C., Zhang, Y. et al. Membrane Deformability and Membrane Tension of Single Isolated Mitochondria. Cel. Mol. Bioeng. 1, 67–74 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12195-008-0002-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12195-008-0002-1

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