The DOI matches its Crossref record; 26 of the 26 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Mitochondria are physiologically maintained at close to 50 °C
Open accessAbstract
In endothermic species, heat released as a product of metabolism ensures stable internal temperature throughout the organism, despite varying environmental conditions. Mitochondria are major actors in this thermogenic process. Part of the energy released by the oxidation of respiratory substrates drives ATP synthesis and metabolite transport, but a substantial proportion is released as heat. Using a temperature-sensitive fluorescent probe targeted to mitochondria, we measured mitochondrial temperature in situ under different physiological conditions. At a constant external temperature of 38 °C, mitochondria were more than 10 °C warmer when the respiratory chain (RC) was fully functional, both in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells and primary skin fibroblasts. This differential was abolished in cells depleted of mitochondrial DNA or treated with respiratory inhibitors but preserved or enhanced by expressing thermogenic enzymes, such as the alternative oxidase or the uncoupling protein 1. The activity of various RC enzymes was maximal at or slightly above 50 °C. In view of their potential consequences, these observations need to be further validated and explored by independent methods. Our study prompts a critical re-examination of the literature on mitochondria.
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Cites
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Strober, W. (2015) · Current Protocols in Immunology · doi:10.1002/0471142735.ima03bs111 · Cited by 2,597
Trypan Blue Exclusion Test of Cell Viability
Strober, W. (1997) · Current Protocols in Immunology · doi:10.1002/0471142735.ima03bs21 · Cited by 1,345
Biochemical and molecular investigations in respiratory chain deficiencies
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Self-citationWittig, I., Karas, M., & Schägger, H. (2007) · Molecular & Cellular Proteomics · doi:10.1074/mcp.m700076-mcp200 · Cited by 551
ULTRASTRUCTURAL BASES FOR METABOLICALLY LINKED MECHANICAL ACTIVITY IN MITOCHONDRIA
Hackenbrock, C. R. (1968) · The Journal of Cell Biology · doi:10.1083/jcb.37.2.345 · Cited by 512
Mitochondrial Production of Superoxide Radical and Hydrogen Peroxide
Boveris, A. (1977) · Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology · doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-9035-4_5 · Cited by 426
Structure of Mammalian Respiratory Supercomplex I 1 III 2 IV 1
Wu, M., Gu, J., Guo, R., Huang, Y., & Yang, M. (2016) · Cell · doi:10.1016/j.cell.2016.11.012 · Cited by 400
Extremophiles and their adaptation to hot environments
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Respiratory chain supercomplexes of mitochondria and bacteria
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Meltome atlas—thermal proteome stability across the tree of life
Jarzab, A., Kurzawa, N., Hopf, T., Moerch, M., Zecha, J., Leijten, N., Bian, Y., Musiol, E., Maschberger, M., Stoehr, G., et al. (2020) · Nature Methods · doi:10.1038/s41592-020-0801-4 · Cited by 281
Reynolds, J. C., Lai, R. W., Woodhead, J. S. T., Joly, J. H., Mitchell, C. J., Cameron-Smith, D., Lu, R., Cohen, P., Graham, N. A., Benayoun, B. A., et al. (2021) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-020-20790-0 · Cited by 199
Sanchez-Contreras, M., Sweetwyne, M. T., Tsantilas, K. A., Whitson, J. A., Campbell, M. D., Kohrn, B. F., Kim, H. J., Hipp, M. J., Fredrickson, J., Nguyen, M. M., et al. (2023) · eLife · doi:10.7554/elife.83395 · Cited by 71
Symbiogenesis, gradualism, and mitochondrial energy in eukaryote origin
Martin, W. F. (2017) · Periodicum Biologorum · doi:10.18054/pb.v119i3.5694 · Cited by 38
What physiological role(s) does the alternative oxidase perform in animals?
Jacobs, H. T., & Ballard, J. W. O. (2022) · Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics · doi:10.1016/j.bbabio.2022.148556 · Cited by 25
Self-citationGaser, O. A., Nasr, M. A., Hussein, A. E., Salah, R. A., Saad, S. M., Ehab, S., Aboomar, N. M., Elmehrath, A. O., Salah, A., Chang, Y.-T., et al. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-02807-0 · Cited by 2
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Metadata
- Authors
- Chrétien, D., Bénit, P., Ha, H.-H., Keipert, S., El-Khoury, R., Chang, Y.-T., Jastroch, M., Jacobs, H. T., Rustin, P., & Rak, M.
- Venue
- PLOS Biology
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2018-01-25
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- e2003992
- ISSN
- 1544-9173 (ISSN-L)
- 1545-7885
- OpenAlex
- W2950530527
- Cited by
- 448
- References
- 26
- FWCI
- 13.34
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
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