Zooming in on the structure of cellular energy plants
An SNSF-supported team at the University of Basel has observed our cells' energy plants with unprecedented resolution.
Mitochondria, the tiny factories in our cells, convert sugar and oxygen into universal cellular fuel. This process - cellular respiration - relies on a group of proteins working in a chain. With support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), a team of scientists has observed these proteins with unprecedented resolution inside the mitochondria of green algae. Using electron microscopy, researchers at the University of Basel have examined their atomic-scale structure, revealing details that are around a million times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, specifically in the range of 2 to 5 angstroms. Their discovery, recently published on the cover of the journal Science, provides vital insights into how our cells produce energy and the role mitochondria play in various human diseases.