Three-dimensional imaging of mitochondrial cristae complexity using cryo-soft X-ray tomography

Author(s)

Polo, Carla C. ^[1] ; Fonseca-Alaniz, Miriam H. ^[2] ; Chen, Jian-Hua ^{[3, 4]} ; Ekman, Axel ^[3] ; McDermott, Gerry ^[3] ; Meneau, Florian ^[1] ; Krieger, Jose E. ^[2] ; Miyakawa, Ayumi A. ^[2]

Affiliation

^[1] Brazilian Ctr Res Energy & Mat CNPEM, Brazilian Synchrotron Light Lab LNLS, BR-13083970 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Heart Inst InCor, Lab Genet & Mol Cardiol, Sch Med, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[3] Lawrence Berkeley Natl Lab, Mol Biophys & Integrated Bioimaging Div, Berkeley, CA - USA

^[4] Univ Calif San Francisco, Dept Anat, San Francisco, CA 94158 - USA

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS; v. 10, n. 1 DEC 3 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that change morphology to adapt to cellular energetic demands under both physiological and stress conditions. Cardiomyopathies and neuronal disorders are associated with structure-related dysfunction in mitochondria, but three-dimensional characterizations of the organelles are still lacking. In this study, we combined high-resolution imaging and 3D electron density information provided by cryo-soft X-ray tomography to characterize mitochondria cristae morphology isolated from murine. Using the linear attenuation coefficient, the mitochondria were identified (0.247 +/- 0.04 mu m(-1)) presenting average dimensions of 0.90 +/- 0.20 mu m in length and 0.63 +/- 0.12 mu m in width. The internal mitochondria structure was successfully identified by reaching up the limit of spatial resolution of 35 nm. The internal mitochondrial membranes invagination (cristae) complexity was calculated by the mitochondrial complexity index (MCI) providing quantitative and morphological information of mitochondria larger than 0.90 mm in length. The segmentation to visualize the cristae invaginations into the mitochondrial matrix was possible in mitochondria with MCI >= 7. Altogether, we demonstrated that the MCI is a valuable quantitative morphological parameter to evaluate cristae modelling and can be applied to compare healthy and disease state associated to mitochondria morphology. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/25964-5 - From the monomers to the nanoparticles: in situ real time investigation of gold nanoparticles formation by synchrotron and microscopy techniques
• Grantee: Florian Edouard Pierre Meneau
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants
• FAPESP's process: 15/11139-5 - CRP3 participation in aortic aneurysm process
• Grantee: Ayumi Aurea Miyakawa Yamaguchi
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 13/17368-0 - Cardiovascular genomics: mechanisms & novel therapeutics - CVGen mech2ther
• Grantee: José Eduardo Krieger
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants