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Crista Junctions of Mitochondria Visualized by Electron Tomography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

G. A. Perkins
Affiliation:
National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research at San Diego,University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA92093-0608
J. Y. Song
Affiliation:
National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research at San Diego,University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA92093-0608
L. Tarsa
Affiliation:
National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research at San Diego,University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA92093-0608
C. McCarty
Affiliation:
National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research at San Diego,University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA92093-0608
T. J. Deerinck
Affiliation:
National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research at San Diego,University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA92093-0608
M. H. Ellisman
Affiliation:
National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research at San Diego,University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA92093-0608
T. G. Frey
Affiliation:
Biology Department, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182-4614
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Extract

Electron microscope tomography is a useful method for deriving three-dimensional (3-D) structures from tilt series. We used an intermediate, high-voltage electron microscope operated at 400 kV to study the 3-D structure of selectively stained or labeled mitochondria from diverse sources. We have examined the structure of neuronal mitochondria and mitochondria from brown adipose tissue (BAT) employing either single-axis or double-axis techniques over a tilt range of ±60° with 1° or 2° angular increments (Fig. 1). Although BAT mitochondria contains only lamellar cristae with no tubular cristae as we have observed in neuronal mitochondria, we found that the inner membrane of BAT mitochondria invaginates to form cristae only through narrow, tubular openings or crista junctions (Fig. 2).

Recent interest in the possibility of structural artifacts in chemically fixed mitochondria imaged in situ motivated us to perform electron tomography on cryofixed brain and brown fat tissue.

Type
Unique Approaches In Imaging, Computation and Communication for Characterization of the 3D Cell & Organelles I
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America

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References

1.Perkins, G. A. et al., J. Struct. Biol. 119(1997)160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Perkins, G. A. et al., J. Struct. Biol. 120(1997)219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3. This work was supported in part by grants from the American Heart Association, CA Affiliate grant #95-301 to T. G. Frey, the National Science Foundation (ASC 93-18180) and the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Research Resources (RR 04050) to M. H. Ellisman.Google Scholar