Visualizing mitochondrial dynamics at the nanoscale

Abstract

The study of mitochondria is a formidable challenge for super-resolution microscopy due to their dynamic nature and complex membrane architecture. In this issue, Ren et al. introduce HBmito Crimson, a fluorogenic and photostable mitochondrial probe for STED microscopy and investigate how mitochondrial dynamics influence the spatial organization of mitochondrial DNA.

Fig. 1

Fluorophores for live-cell STED imaging of cristae

Fig. 2

Illustration of mitochondria and nucleoids under physiological conditions and upon stress-induced mitochondrial remodeling. a In healthy mammalian cells, mitochondria typically form extended, branched networks that are filled with densely stacked cristae. Voids between stacks of cristae are often occupied by nucleoids (green) that are regularly distributed throughout the mitochondrial network. b Induced by cellular stress, loss of cristae shaping proteins or the induction of cell death, the mitochondrial network fragments and the mitochondrial ultrastructure is disturbed. As shown by Ren et al., this process is accompanied by an aggregation and disorganization of the nucleoids, suggesting that cristae are critical to compartmentalize the matrix space