Mitochondria are membrane-bound cell organelles that generate most of the chemical energy needed to power the cell’s biochemical reactions. Mitochondria form a dynamic and interconnected structural network throughout the cell that facilitates communication with other organelles and their dysfunction is associated with numerous disease states, such as neurodegenerative disorders, metabolic syndromes, cancer, and obesity. There is a strong correlation between the structural and functional roles that mitochondria play in health that has been elucidated through advances in cell structural imaging.
The paper below highlights the advantages that SXT offers in quantifying the 3D organization of mitochondria through its ability to image the whole structure of intact cells, without needing to slice the cell and disrupt the mitochondria. It concludes that imaging mitochondria in the context of the near-native cellular environment will reveal more information regarding mitochondrial network functions within the cell and lead to a better understanding of disease causation and progression.
The use of soft X-ray tomography to explore mitochondrial structure and function
Valentina Loconte, Kate L. White