Cited by 94Mitochondrial Function and PathologyParkinson's Disease Mechanisms and TreatmentsAutophagy in Disease and Therapy

Mitochondrial Complex 1 Activity Measured by Spectrophotometry Is Reduced across All Brain Regions in Ageing and More Specifically in Neurodegeneration

Open access
Pollard, Amelia Kate, Craig, Emma Louise, Chakrabarti, Lisa·2016·PLOS ONE

Abstract

Mitochondrial function, in particular complex 1 of the electron transport chain (ETC), has been shown to decrease during normal ageing and in neurodegenerative disease. However, there is some debate concerning which area of the brain has the greatest complex 1 activity. It is important to identify the pattern of activity in order to be able to gauge the effect of age or disease related changes. We determined complex 1 activity spectrophotometrically in the cortex, brainstem and cerebellum of middle aged mice (70-71 weeks), a cerebellar ataxic neurodegeneration model (pcd5J) and young wild type controls. We share our updated protocol on the measurements of complex1 activity and find that mitochondrial fractions isolated from frozen tissues can be measured for robust activity. We show that complex 1 activity is clearly highest in the cortex when compared with brainstem and cerebellum (p<0.003). Cerebellum and brainstem mitochondria exhibit similar levels of complex 1 activity in wild type brains. In the aged brain we see similar levels of complex 1 activity in all three-brain regions. The specific activity of complex 1 measured in the aged cortex is significantly decreased when compared with controls (p<0.0001). Both the cerebellum and brainstem mitochondria also show significantly reduced activity with ageing (p<0.05). The mouse model of ataxia predictably has a lower complex 1 activity in the cerebellum, and although reductions are measured in the cortex and brain stem, the remaining activity is higher than in the aged brains. We present clear evidence that complex 1 activity decreases across the brain with age and much more specifically in the cerebellum of the pcd5j mouse. Mitochondrial impairment can be a region specific phenomenon in disease, but in ageing appears to affect the entire brain, abolishing the pattern of higher activity in cortical regions.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1371/journal.pone.0157405

Cites

34 of 34 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [22]Sigma-Aldrich. Technical bulletin: Bradford Reagent B6916. 2013; 3–8.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Pollard, A. K., Craig, E. L., & Chakrabarti, L.
Affiliations
University of Nottingham (GB)
Corresponding author
Chakrabarti, Lisa
Venue
PLOS ONE
Published
2016-06-22
Volume
11
Issue
6
Pages
e0157405
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2468126113
Cited by
94
References
34
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2
FWCI
2.43
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Repository@Nottingham (University of Nottingham) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Repository@Nottingham (University of Nottingham) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Nottingham ePrints (University of Nottingham) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
  • University of Nottingham
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Mitochondrial Function and Pathology
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Autophagy in Disease and Therapy
Keywords
mitochondrial complex I, electron transport chain, brain aging, neurodegeneration, cerebellar ataxia, brain regions, mitochondrial function, cortex, brainstem, cerebellum, spectrophotometric assay
MeSH terms
Aging, Animals, Brain, Brain Stem, Cerebral Cortex, Frozen Sections, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mitochondria, Nerve Degeneration, Specimen Handling, Spectrophotometry, Electron Transport Complex I

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review