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These are three-dimensional electron microscopic images of cellular organelles called mitochondria. Mitochondria are the cell's power plants, converting energy stored in food molecules into the chemical ATP, which fuels most of the cell's machinery. The mitochondria pictured here are each about 1 micrometer (1/1000 millimeter) in diameter.

On the left is a mitochondrion from a normal liver cell. The inner membrane compartments, called cristae (green), communicate with the rest of the cell through tubular segments or junctions. Computer modeling studies indicate that cristae shape can regulate energy production by restricting the internal diffusion of molecules. On the right is a mitochondrion from a patient with mitochondriocytopathy, a mitochondrial disease. These cristae (yellow) are highly abnormal, comprising individual vesicles that do not communicate with the outside. Collaborative studies are underway to determine the factors that control the shape of the inner membrane and the reversibility of changes associated with disease states and aging.

CREDIT: Dr. Carmen Mannella, Karolyn Buttle, Marjan Huizing, Michael Marko, Division of Molecular Medicine. (The image on the right was featured on the cover of Trends In Biochemical Sciences, July 2000.)