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Mitochondrial cristae as insulated transformers of metabolic energy
Author(s) -
Schlame Michael
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.15252/embj.2019103472
Subject(s) - biology , inner mitochondrial membrane , mitochondrion , microbiology and biotechnology
The mitochondrial inner membrane consists of the inner boundary membrane and invaginations called cristae, which differ in protein composition and likely have distinct functions. In this issue of The EMBO Journal , Wolf et al (2019) report that the cristae carry a higher membrane potential than the intervening boundary membranes. Their data suggest electro‐chemical discontinuity among segments of the inner membrane, implying that individual cristae may operate with some degree of independence.