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Updated: Feb 7, 2026

Visualization of ATP Synthase Dimers in Mitochondria by Electron Cryo-tomography
Published on: September 14, 2014
Visualizing Mitochondrial FoF1-ATP Synthase as the Target of the Immunomodulatory Drug Bz-423
Ilka Starke1,2, Gary D Glick3, Michael Börsch1,4
1Single-Molecule Microscopy Group, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.
Abstract:
Targeting the mitochondrial enzyme FoF1-ATP synthase and modulating its catalytic activities with small molecules is a promising new approach for treatment of autoimmune diseases. The immunomodulatory compound Bz-423 is such a drug that binds to subunit OSCP of the mitochondrial FoF1-ATP synthase and induces apoptosis via increased reactive oxygen production in coupled, actively respiring mitochondria. Here, we review the experimental progress to reveal the binding of Bz-423 to the mitochondrial target and discuss how subunit rotation of FoF1-ATP synthase is affected by Bz-423. Briefly, we report how Förster resonance energy transfer can be employed to colocalize the enzyme and the fluorescently tagged Bz-423 within the mitochondria of living cells with nanometer resolution.
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