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Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Determination of Mitochondrial Respiration and Glycolysis in Ex Vivo Retinal Tissue Samples
Published on: August 4, 2021
Determination of Mitochondrial Oxygen Consumption in the Retina Ex Vivo: Applications for Retinal Disease
Yogita K Adlakha1,2, Anand Swaroop3
1Neurobiology-Neurodegeneration & Repair Laboratory, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. yogita@nbrc.ac.in.
Abstract:
Mitochondrial dysfunction, and consequently altered aerobic energy metabolism, is associated with numerous retinal diseases, including photoreceptor degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Here, we describe a detailed protocol to directly measure oxygen consumption in the intact retina ex vivo using microplate-based fluorescence technology. We have used this method to assess preferred energy substrate for retinal tissue and suggested its application for investigating mechanisms of retinal disease.
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Rate-Determining Steps
In a multistep reaction mechanism, one of the elementary steps progresses significantly slower than the others. This slowest step is called the rate-limiting step (or rate-determining step). A reaction cannot proceed faster than its slowest step, and hence, the rate-determining step limits the overall reaction rate.
The concept of rate-determining step can be understood from the analogy of a 4-lane freeway with a short-stretch of traffic-bottleneck caused due to...

