Sunday, January 16, 2011

MITOCHONDRIA: creates adenosine-5'-triphosphate (ATP)

From Wikipedia:

Adenosine-5'-triphosphate (ATP) is a multifunctional nucleotide used in cells as a coenzyme. It is often called the "molecular unit of currency" of intracellular energy transfer.[1] ATP transports chemical energy within cells for metabolism. It is produced by photophosphorylation and cellular respiration and used by enzymes and structural proteins in many cellular processes, including biosynthetic reactions, motility, and cell division.

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Mitochondria. Coloured transmission electron micrograph of mitochondria (circles). A mitochondrion is a membrane-bound organelle that exists in eukaryotic cells. It converts energy in the form of glucose into ATP. ATP is then used by cells to provide usable energy to drive reactions muscles. Mitochondria have a double membrane and their own DNA. Magnification: x50,000 when printed 10 centimetres wide.

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"These are fibroblast cells, which are stained with dyes that are specific for mitochondria. Two dyes were used - one red and one green. The red dye stains only live, healthy mitochondria, while the green dye stains any mitochondria, dead or alive. This resulted in a variety of colours due to the differences in mitochondria viability among the cells." Mr Yaron Silberberg. London Centre for Nanotechnology

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Energy is synthesized in mitochondria of an eukaryotic cell. Certain cells (liver and muscle) have many mitochondria because theses cell types require and produce large amounts of energy. A mitochondrion contains two membranes. The outer membrane separates the organelle from the cell. The inner membrane surrounds a matrix compartment. In space between the two membranes, proton gradients are maintained. Figure 4 Mitochondria are fluorescently-labeled green inside this cell. Douglas Kline. Nucleus, Mitochondria, and Lysosomes



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Fluorescence emission intensity from a culture of albino Swiss mouse embryo fibroblast (3T3 line) cells that were transfected with a pEYFP-Mitochondria plasmid subcellular localization vector. Cells were transiently transfected and cultured in nutrient medium for a minimum of 24 hours before recording images. The enhanced yellow fluorescent protein gene used in these studies contains several important amino acid substitutions that shift the emission maximum of green fluorescent protein (GFP) by approximately 18 nanometers, from 509 to 527 nanometers. However, the fluorescence emission still appears green when observed in the microscope eyepieces. Note the relatively constant level of green fluorescence defining the tubular mitochondrial geometry, which exists as an extended network traversing the cytoplasm. In many cases, mitochondria are concentrated near the nucleus (as illustrated in the image), leading to an increase in fluorescence emission from this region. Albino Swiss Mouse Embryo Cell Mitochondria. YFP Bandpass Emission (Narrow Bandwidth Excitation) Blue-Green Set.










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