AI Article Synopsis
- * The movements of mitochondria are influenced by their connections to the cytoskeleton, allowing them to make small jumps and maintaining the organization of essential proteins and genetic material within them.
- * The text suggests that the basic unit of mitochondrial structure is a replicating module, and it also reviews studies that look at the diverse functions within the mitochondrial mass.
Article Abstract
The mitochondrion within human cells in tissue culture is pleomorphic and highly dynamic. The organelle mass can exist as thousands of small ovoids or as one continuous reticulum. In either state, the mitochondrial mass is in constant thermal motion, as well as moving in approximately 0.8-microm jumps that are determined by, and related to, attachments with cytoskeletal elements. Many protein complexes, such as the pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) complex and DNA containing nucleoids, are dispersed through the mass and as though fixed by attachments to membranes, such that they can become distributed to all of the individual small ovoid mitochondria when the reticulum becomes fragmented. This leads us to propose that a replicating module is the repeating unit of mitochondrial structure. Studies to examine heterogeneity of functioning within the organelle mass are briefly reviewed.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0005-2728(02)00277-3 | DOI Listing |
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