Quantification of Mitochondrial Network Characteristics in Health and Disease

The term 'mitochondrial dynamics' is commonly used to refer to ongoing fusion and fission of mitochondrial structures within a living cell. A growing number of diseases, from Charcot Marie Tooth Type 2a neuropathies to cancer, is known to be associated with the dysregulation of mitochondrial dynamics, leading to irregularities of mitochondrial network morphology that are associated with aberrant metabolism and cellular dysfunction. Studying these phenomena, and potential pharmacological interventions to correct them, in cultured cells is a powerful approach to developing treatments or cures. Appropriately designed experiments and quantitative approaches for characterizing mitochondrial morphology and function are essential for furthering our understanding. In this chapter, we discuss the importance of cell incubation conditions, choices around imaging modalities, and data analysis tools with respect to experimental outcomes and the interpretation of results from studies of mitochondrial dynamics. We focus primarily on the quantitative analysis of mitochondrial morphology, providing an overview of the available tools and approaches currently being used and discussing some of the strengths and weaknesses associated with each. Finally, we discuss how the ongoing development of imaging and analysis tools continues to improve our ability to study normal and aberrant mitochondrial physiology in vitro and in vivo.