Imaging mitochondrial flux in single cells with a FRET sensor for pyruvate.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 24465702.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0085780 and PMC identifier 3897509.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Mitochondrial flux is currently accessible at low resolution. Here we introduce a genetically-encoded FRET sensor for pyruvate, and methods for quantitative measurement of pyruvate transport, pyruvate production and mitochondrial pyruvate consumption in intact individual cells at high temporal resolution. In HEK293 cells, neurons and astrocytes, mitochondrial pyruvate uptake was saturated at physiological levels, showing that the metabolic rate is determined by intrinsic properties of the organelle and not by substrate availability. The potential of the sensor was further demonstrated in neurons, where mitochondrial flux was found to rise by 300% within seconds of a calcium transient triggered by a short theta burst, while glucose levels remained unaltered. In contrast, astrocytic mitochondria were insensitive to a similar calcium transient elicited by extracellular ATP. We expect the improved resolution provided by the pyruvate sensor will be of practical interest for basic and applied researchers interested in mitochondrial function.
Medical subject headings
- Biosensing Techniques
- Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer
- Mitochondria
- Molecular Imaging
- Pyruvic Acid
- Single-Cell Analysis