Publications by authors named "E M A van de Westerlo"
Article Synopsis
- Dimeric nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (NNT) is a crucial enzyme located in the mitochondrial inner membrane, involved in converting NADP/NADH to NADPH/NAD while facilitating proton influx, but its specific roles and regulation in health and diseases like cancer are still not thoroughly understood.! -
- Research on NNT has been conducted through studies on gene mutations in specific models (like GCCD4 patients and C57BL/6J mice) and effects of NNT alterations in cancer cells, revealing both common and unique functional issues, yet information on NNT's physiological role in humans remains limited.! -
- To advance understanding of NNT's functions and effects in various conditions, future
Article Synopsis
- Mitochondrial morphology and membrane potential are key indicators of mitochondrial health, and these can be analyzed using fluorescent dyes in living cells.
- The study focuses on using TMRM and Mitotracker Green FM to assess both mitochondrial shape and membrane potential in primary human skin fibroblasts.
- An integrated protocol is provided for quantifying these parameters through epifluorescence microscopy, specifically highlighting its effectiveness with large, flat cells at high magnification.
Mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψ) and morphology are considered key readouts of mitochondrial functional state. This morphofunction can be studied using fluorescent dyes ("probes") like tetramethylrhodamine methyl ester (TMRM) and Mitotrackers (MTs). Although these dyes are broadly used, information comparing their performance in mitochondrial morphology quantification and Δψ-sensitivity in the same cell model is still scarce.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMacromolecules of various sizes induce crowding of the cellular environment. This crowding impacts on biochemical reactions by increasing solvent viscosity, decreasing the water-accessible volume and altering protein shape, function, and interactions. Although mitochondria represent highly protein-rich organelles, most of these proteins are somehow immobilized.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAttachment of cargo molecules to lipophilic triphenylphosphonium (TPP) cations is a widely applied strategy for mitochondrial targeting. We previously demonstrated that the vitamin E-derived antioxidant Trolox increases the levels of active mitochondrial complex I (CI), the first complex of the electron transport chain (ETC), in primary human skin fibroblasts (PHSFs) of Leigh Syndrome (LS) patients with isolated CI deficiency. Primed by this finding, we here studied the cellular effects of mitochondria-targeted Trolox (MitoE10), mitochondria-targeted ubiquinone (MitoQ10) and their mitochondria-targeting moiety decylTPP (C-TPP).
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