Researchers discover a new basic principle of the mitochondria architecture
A team of scientists at the University of Freiburg led by Dr. Martin van der Laan has achieved groundbreaking new insights into the structure of mitochondria. Mitochondria are the microscopic power plants of the cell that harness the energy stored in food, thus enabling central life functions. This conversion of energy takes place in delicately formed cavities of the biological membranes inside mitochondria. Defects in these fine membrane structures can lead to severe diseases of the muscles and the central nervous system. A sophisticated molecular machine of the inner membrane that the Freiburg team already discovered in 2011 is not only responsible for forming the characteristic structures within mitochondria but evidently also plays an important role in assembling the outer membrane enclosing these organelles, as the scientists now report in the renowned journal Molecular Biology of the Cell.