Division and Fusion in Mitochondria
Mitochondria are essential organelles in many cells. Each component of mitochondria have distinct roles that they must partake in for the sake of the cell’s survival. Mitochondria have their own genetic system that encodes directions for the mitochondria’s different processes. Oxidative phosphorylation, an activity that is necessary to the cell takes place within the mitochondria, along with electron transport. Mitochondria also take part in processes that benefit themselves, including fusion and division (Hales, 2010). Therefore, the processes of mitochondria are important not only to the mitochondria itself, but also to the whole cell overall.
Cellular Biology Knowledge
In order to understand this material, previous knowledge from a cellular biology class is important to have. Prior classes and readings explained the structure and functions of mitochondria. The structure of mitochondria shows that it has two membranes; an outer membrane that is permeable to ions and small molecules because of porins, and an inner membrane, impermeable to ions and small molecules, that forms in cristae in order to increase surface area. Mitochondria house critical functions of the cell, including ATP synthesis through oxidative phosphorylation. An understanding of the composition, membranes, and permeability of this organelle is essential in comprehending readings on the fusion and division of networks in mitochondria and building upon previously studied information. It is necessary to understand key concepts about mitochondria in order to grasp the overall view of this organelle.
Mitochondrial Networks
In the early 1930s, it was first discovered that mitochondria form interconnected networks of tubules that a...
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...ions and divisions of mitochondria (Hales, 2010). By understanding what causes the disease, further research can be done to figure out how to treat the specific mitochondria and neurons involved. Therefore, mitochondrial fusion and division is necessary in discovering effective medical treatments that have not yet become available. These mitochondrial treatments can then be dispensed and used to help all people affected by diseases caused by mitochondrial mutations.
References
Hales, K. G. (2010). Mitochondrial Fusion and Division. Nature Education. 3(9):12
Cooper, G. M., Hausman, R. E. (2013). Bioenergetics and Metabolism. The Cell: A Molecular
Approach (6th ed. ). (421-457). Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc.
Youle, R. J., van der Bliek, A. M. (2012). Mitochondrial Fission, Fusion, and Stress. Science.
337(6098), 1062-1065. [DOI:10.1126/science.1219855].
Small ribosomes scattered throughout the cytoplasm. No mitochondria hence respiration takes place on an infolding of the cell membrane
Organelles work together to carry out life processes and functions. Each organelle has a certain responsibility to carry out. Organelles are always working diligently to maintain a cell’s internal process and functions. Firstly, the “brain” of the cell is the nucleus. The nucleus administrates all of the cell activities. And, found within the nucleus there is genetic material called chromosomes. Secondly, the nuclear membrane surrounds the nucleus. Additionally, the mitochondria makes ATP energy from food. The lysosomes has digestive enzymes that help break food down. Furthermore, the ribosomes make protein. Then, the Golgi apparatus process and package the
Hello everyone. Today for my speaking assignment, I will be speaking to you all about the mitochondrion because I don’t know what else to talk about. For the first part, I am just going to summarize what I know and won’t be going in depth with it as much. Anyways, as most people know, the mitochondrion is the powerhouse of the cell. Mitochondrion is singular while the plural version is mitochondria, which is the one people tend to say and it’s not wrong either way. It is an organelle found in most eukaryotic cells. In 1890, it was discovered by German pathologist Richard Altmann and was called “bioblast” at the time. People also were very skeptical at the time about his findings of the granules and even harshly criticized Altmann until the
Eukaryotic cells share several distinguishing features, such as: cytoplasm within specialized organelles such as the mitochondria, chloroplast, the Golgi complex, both a rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulum, a nuclear envelope that isolates DNA from the cytoplasm, and a endomembrane system that provides structure and function to the organelles of the cell. Both the mitochondrion and chloroplast are energy transducing organelles, meaning that they transform energy from one form to another, and are believed to be evolved from free living prokaryotes as held by the theory of endosymbiosis. This theory suggests that infolding of the plasma membrane coupled with the absorption of a prokaryotic cells by other prokaryotes could evolve into a later, more complex and specialized type of cell and is proofed by related morphological features such as between cytobacteria and chloroplasts, and between mitochondria and aerobic prokaryotes. Further substantiation includes mitochondria and chloroplasts reproduction through binary fission like prokaryotes, the presence of DNA in both free living prokaryotes and in energy transducing organelles (apart from in the nucleus), protein synthesis and the presence of enzymes and ribosomes where the ribosomes of prokaryotes are comparable to those in mitochondria and chloroplast,
The inner membrane and outer membrane effectively divide the mitochondria into two internal compartments. The space located between the outer and inner mitochondrial membrane is called the intermembrane space. The space enclosed by th...
Aconitase catalyzes the conversion of citrate to isocitrate in the mitochondria and cytosol. In the mitochondria, aconitase is required for the TCA cycle to continue. In the case of high mitochondrial ROS production, aconitase becomes oxidized and no longer functions...
Mitochondria originally existed as a single celled organism, but were then engulfed by a eukaryotic cell. Thereafter, these organisms displayed an endosymbiosis relationship. Mitochondrial DNA is inherited from the maternal parent. Due to this fact, mtDNA is a useful molecule for studying point mutations, because there is no crossing over in mtDNA. Furthermore, the point of this lab was to analyze how mtDNA changes over time and from the changes in the mtDNA determine material linage and haplogroup. In this experiment, the hyper variable region I was analyzed to determine the haplogroup and the haplotype of a specific individual. Mitochondrial DNA was extracted, amplified, purified, and then ran through a gel. The 1% agarose gel displayed that
Explain in your own words why defects in this energy producing organelle would lead to the symptoms
Oxygen is an essential component for cellular metabolic processes. As a result of normal cellular metabolism, oxidative products i.e. oxygen free radicals or reactive oxygen species are produced. In eukaryotic cells energy is generated in mitochondria as a result of aerobic respiration and this oxidative metabolism is responsible for formation of various compounds. Nearly all of these compounds are advantageous but a small proportion could be lethal if produced in higher concentration. During normal conditions small quantities of oxidative products are necessary for certain sub cellular events, including enzyme activation, formation of disulfide bond during the folding of new proteins, signal transduction and gene expression etc. (Yu etal., 2002; Droge, 2002). Oxidative stress can be defined as the excessive production of ROS which are not adequately removed from the body, because of reduced antioxidant defense system or the ROS increases beyond the capacity of antioxidants. The balance between oxidants and antioxidants is vital because oxidative stress can cause oxidative damages to N.A, lipids and proteins. The most important ROS are superoxide anion (O2−), singlet oxygen (O2), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and highly reactive hydroxyl radical (OH-). Whereas, antioxidant defense system is responsible to give protection against ROS. These antioxidants can scavenge and destroy ROS. The major antioxidant enzymes are catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) PON ….. and glutathione system (Sies, 1985; Valko et al., 2007; Halliwell and Gutteridge, 1990).
...a continuous flow of ATP. In order to support a constant flow of ATP, the mitochondria are concentrated at synapses. If these changes in the organelle functions continue in an altered state, there is a greater risk of affecting the synaptic plasticity. In addition, the “paucity of mitochondria causes the synaptic dysfunction in dendrites and axons” (2). Therefore, synaptic mitochondrial dysfunction is indicative of Alzheimer’s pathogenesis (2).
The mitochondria is an organelle which is generally an oval shape and is found inside the cytoplasm and is again apart of the eukaryotic cells. The main function of the mitochondria is to complete cellular respiration; in simple terms it acts like a digestive system to break down essential nutrients and to convert it into energy. This energy is usually found to in ATP which is a rich molecule taken from the energy stored in food. Furthermore, mitochondria stores calcium for signalling activities; such as heat, growth and death. They have two unique membranes and mitochondria isn’t found in human cells like the red blood cells yet liver and muscle cells are filled entirely with mitochondria.
According to Carl Woese, a professor of microbiology at the University of Illinois, eukaryote cells are more structurally complex than those of their prokaryotic counterparts. Eukaryote evolved from prokaryotic cells as they adapted to their environment. Evidence shows that mitochondria, an organelle found in all eukaryotic cells, are actually the product of two independent bacteria’s becoming one. This process is known as endosymbiosis or teamwork. Some evidence supporting the idea of endosymbiosis follows; the chloroplasts and the mitochondria are similar to bacteria in size as well as structure, both mitochondria and chloroplasts contain limited amounts of genetic material which could be from splitting, and both of these organelles are surrounded by a double membrane which suggest that the out membrane may be derived from the engulfing vesicle, and the inner
They generate most of the energy in the cell but are also part of cell growth. Mitochondria also affect human health with mitochondrial disorder and cardiac dysfunction. Some of its functions include making energy for the cell, regulate the number of calcium ions in a cell and help build hormones such as testosterone and estrogen. They make energy by receiving nutrition molecules to be processed, thus charging them and then combining them with
The mitochondria produces food for the cell by converting energy the cell needs. The mitochondria and the nucleus are two organelles within a cell that have many of the same similarities. Both organelles are made of two membranes. These layers isolate within the organelle all things considered, yet have protein channels that permit things to go in and out. Both contain DNA material that conveys qualities that encode for proteins. Both have qualities that make ribosomes, the machines that read the guidelines in RNA to make
Cells are the basic building blocks of all living things. The human body is composed of trillions of cells. They provide structure for the body, take in nutrients from food, convert those nutrients into energy, and carry out specialized functions. But it also contains highly organized physical structures which are called intracellular organelles. These organelles are important for cellular function. For instance Mitochondria is the one of most important organelle of the cell. Without Mitochondria more than 95% of the cell’s energy, which release from nutrients would cease immediately [Guyton et al. 2007].