Saturday, November 1, 2014

MITOCHONDRIA AND CHEMICAL TOXICITY


Mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell. This video shows an animation of 3D mitochondria data in a healthy neuron from a rat brain collected using serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBF-SEM). First, the SBF-SEM scans are displayed, which are then computed to identify the cell surface (green), mitochondria (each shown in a different color), and nucleus (semi-transparent purple).

In a healthy cell, the mitochondria are often elongated, reaching out to network with other mitochondria to optimize energy output, as seen in this video. If the cell is damaged, such as by a toxic compound, the mitochondrial network becomes fragmented and swollen, which may lead to abnormal cell death. Thus, SBF-SEM can provide quantitative 3D structural data to help understand chemical toxicity.


Credit: Trisha Eustaquio and Angel M. Paredes
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR), Jefferson, AR 
corina marinescu

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