The mitochondrial nucleoid: integrating mitochondrial DNA into cellular homeostasis
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Updated: May 11, 2026

Specific Labeling of Mitochondrial Nucleoids for Time-lapse Structured Illumination Microscopy
Published on: June 4, 2020
Robert Gilkerson1, Liliana Bravo, Iraselia Garcia
1Department of Biology, University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, TX 78539-2999, USA. gilkersonrw@utpa.edu
Abstract:
The packaging of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) into DNA-protein assemblies called nucleoids provides an efficient segregating unit of mtDNA, coordinating mtDNA's involvement in cellular metabolism. From the early discovery of mtDNA as "extranuclear" genetic material, its organization into nucleoids and integration into both the mitochondrial organellar network and the cell at large via a variety of signal transduction pathways, mtDNA is a crucial component of the cell's homeostatic network. The mitochondrial nucleoid is composed of a set of DNA-binding core proteins involved in mtDNA maintenance and transcription, and a range of peripheral factors, which are components of signaling pathways controlling mitochondrial biogenesis, metabolism, apoptosis, and retrograde mitochondria-to-nucleus signaling. The molecular interactions of nucleoid components with the organellar network and cellular signaling pathways provide exciting clues to the dynamic integration of mtDNA into cellular metabolic homeostasis.
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