Magnetic Nanoparticle (MNP) Assisted Mitochondrial Respirometry

Overview

Dr. Busik Yan Levitsy Adam Fillion Michigan State University’s Biochemistry Mitochondria are the cornerstone of biological energy transduction and their dysfunction is linked to many diseases such as diabetes, cancer, Parkinson’s and others. Scarce biological samples are not amenable to current methodologies for studies on mitochondrial function. Furthermore, existing techniques require specialized sample preparation calling into question their physiological relevance. We are developing a novel platform to study mitochondrial metabolisms by simultaneously measuring oxygen consumption and electrochemical currents. This approach requires that mitochondria are located in close proximity to the sensor as they are subjected to various reaction conditions, which cannot be achieved in classical assays. The goal for this project is to determine the effects of the magnetic nanoparticle (MNP)-mitochondria interaction on mitochondrial function and to explore strategies for their improvement. This project will involve isolation of mitochondria from ARPE-19 cells, characterization of mitochondrial fitness with and without bound MNP, and the citrate synthase assay. We observed that our microfluidic respirometer was able to measure changes in oxygen concentration and reproduce respiration rates data using a single sample of mitochondria. In addition, the project attempts to establish an ideal ratio between MNPs and mitochondria to create optimized protocols for further experimentation on mitochondria samples. We hope to implement our device to studying mitochondria from diseased tissue to ideally understand more about certain pathologies and create treatments.

Competition history

• JSHS 2020 Category not listed

Resources

• National JSHS abstract book ↗

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