Quantifying Mitochondrial Dynamics in Patient Fibroblasts with Multiple Developmental Defects and Mitochondrial Disorders

Abstract

Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that undergo rounds of fission and fusion and exhibit a wide range of morphologies that contribute to the regulation of different signaling pathways and various cellular functions. It is important to understand the differences between mitochondrial structure in health and disease so that therapies can be developed to maintain the homeostatic balance of mitochondrial dynamics. Mitochondrial disorders are multisystemic and characterized by complex and variable clinical pathologies. The dynamics of mitochondria in mitochondrial disorders is thus worthy of investigation. Therefore, in this study, we performed a comprehensive analysis of mitochondrial dynamics in ten patient-derived fibroblasts containing different mutations and deletions associated with various mitochondrial disorders. Our results suggest that the most predominant morphological signature for mitochondria in the diseased state is fragmentation, with eight out of the ten cell lines exhibiting characteristics consistent with fragmented mitochondria. To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive study that quantifies mitochondrial dynamics in cell lines with a wide array of developmental and mitochondrial disorders. A more thorough analysis of the correlations between mitochondrial dynamics, mitochondrial genome perturbations, and bioenergetic dysfunction will aid in identifying unique morphological signatures of various mitochondrial disorders in the future.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jun 10, 2021
Source ID
10.3390/ijms22126263

Entities

People

  • Ajibola B. Bakare
  • Anapaula Rojas
  • Austin Bell
  • Brooke Henry
  • Joshua Stabach
  • Julienne Daniel
  • Shilpa Iyer

Organizations

  • United States Department of Defense
  • United States Department of Health and Human Services

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Gulf War Illness and Chronic Multisymptom Illness in Veterans.
  • Molecular and Cellular Biology
  • Systems Analysis and Design