Helium—neon laser irradiation of rat liver mitochondria gives rise to a new subpopulation of mitochondria: Isolation and first biochemical characterization
✍ Scribed by M. Greco; E. Perlino; D. Pastore; G. Guida; E. Marra; E. Quagliariello
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1991
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 551 KB
- Volume
- 10
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1011-1344
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✦ Synopsis
An experiment was performed to isolate the small atypical mitochondria produced during the irradiation of normal mitochondria with an He-Ne laser. Rat liver mitochondria were irradiated with a low-power continuous-wave He-Ne laser (energy dose, 5 J cm-2), followed by isolation using a sucrose gradient. In the irradiated sample, two bands were observed, one corresponding to normal mitochondria and the other to atypical mitochondria. Certain biochemical features of the mitochondria were investigated: mitochondrial enzyme activity and the presence of DNA and RNA were demonstrated. Hybridization experiments carried out with labelled mitochondrial probes, containing the genes for cytochrome oxidase subunit I and 12S rRNA, confirmed the mitochondrial nature of the isolated RNA.