Lecture I Flashcards
What is mitochondria important in?
neurodegenerative disorders, diabetes, cancer, and many other multifactorial diseases
What is the endosymbiotic theory?
in ancient time, gram- proteobacterium was engulfed by an ancestral cell, conferring oxidative phosphorylation to the ancestral eukaryotic cell
Describe the mitochondria:
2 membranes (outer and inner)
What is the inner membrane of the mitochondria divided into?
inner boundary membrane (translocons and transporters) and cristae (invaginations that are the site of oxidative phosphorylation)
What is the shape of the cristae important for?
it is needed to maximize the functionality of the respiratory chain
What is the function of the inter membrane space?
space between the 2 membranes and the matrix
What is located in the matrix of the mitochondria?
mitochondrial DNA where many metabolic processes take place like Krebs (crucial for the respiratory chain as it provides the NADH and FADH₂), β-oxidation of fatty acids, steroidogenesis, the generation of heme, etc.
What is important to remember in regards to mitochondria?
posses their own DNA so they cannot by generated de novo
What do mitochondria derive from?
fission events of pre-existing organelles
Describe the lipid composition of the mitochondria’s inner membrane:
there is a lipid called cardiolipin, which is absent in the other membrane
How can we analyze mitochondria?
via electron tomography
What is a mitochondria deprived of the outer membrane called?
mitoplast
What are the criastae the sites of?
oxidative phosphorylation
What is important in regards to the 5 respiratory chain complexes?
there is an electron transfer from complex I to complex IV coupled with the proton passage to the inter membrane space and this is crucial as it creates a proton gradient essential for the functionality of the organelle
*loss of the proton gradient is related to organellar pathology in most cases
What is the name for cellular metabolic hubs for anabolic processes and catabolic processes that are also involved in calcium signaling and mediated the pathway of apoptosis through the release of cytochrome c?
mitochondria
Describe the mitochondrial proteome:
there are more or less 1100 proteins related to protein biogenesis, mitochondrial gene expression, respiratory chain and metabolism
many of these reside in the nucleus and only 13 polypeptides derive from the mitochondrial DNA
How small is the mitochondrial DNA?
16kb circular dsDNA (very small)
How is mitochondrial DNA packaged?
nucleoids
What are nucleoids?
associations of mitochondrial DNA with TFAM, which is a mitochondrial TF
Why is mitochondrial DNA fully dependent on the nuclear DNA?
machinery that is needed for its replication, transcription, and translation comes from the nucleus
What is POLGA?
polymerase devoted to mtDNA replication
What is Twinkle?
helicase that unwinds the mtDNA allowing replication
What is TFAm and all the other factors?
nuclear encoded
Describe the figure:
it is a fibroblast:
blue is the nucleus
red is the mitochondrial network
green is the nucleoids