Atomic force microscopy of isolated mitochondria

This chapter describes methods for isolating and imaging metabolically and toxicologically challenged mitochondria with atomic force microscopy. Mitochondria were isolated from rat dorsal root ganglia or brain and exposed to glucose or dinitrobenzene (DNB) to simulate the cellular environment of a diabetic animal that has been exposed to excess glucose or to DNB. It is one of only a few articles to present images of membrane structures, such as voltage-dependent, anion-selective channel pores, on intact organelles. The purpose of the chapter is not to report on the metabolic or toxic effects, but to communicate in more detail than a typical journal paper allows the methods used to image isolated organelles. We also provide a series images revealing the outer membrane and outer membrane pores. An image of an isolated nucleus as well as a set of notes written to avoid common pitfalls in isolation, labeling, and imaging is also included.