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Updated: May 31, 2026

Mitochondrial Ca2+ Retention Capacity Assay and Ca2+-triggered Mitochondrial Swelling Assay
Published on: May 1, 2018
Control of mitochondrial volume by mitochondrial metabolic water
Louis Casteilla1, Anne Devin, Audrey Carriere
1Université de Toulouse, UPS, UMR 5241 Métabolisme, Plasticité et Mitochondrie, BP 84 225, F-31 432 Toulouse Cedex 4, France.
Abstract:
It is well-known that mitochondrial volume largely controls mitochondrial functioning. We investigate whether metabolic water produced by oxidative phosphorylation could be involved in mitochondrial volume regulation. We modulated the generation of this water in liver mitochondria and assess their volume by two independent techniques. In liver mitochondria, the mitochondrial volume was specifically decreased when no water was produced independently of energetic parameters and uncoupling activity. In all other conditions associated with water generation, there was no significant change in mitochondrial metabolic volume. Altogether these data demonstrate that mitochondrial volume is regulated, independently of energetic status, by the mitochondrial metabolic water that acts as a signal.
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