An electron microscope study of mitochondria in hamster liver and kidney cells has revealed that at some points the outer membrane of these organelles is continuous with the inner membrane. Also, at such points the discontinuous components of the membrane pairs have free endings. The outer and the inner membranes of a mitochondrion, therefore, may not be two different and distinct entities, as has been conventionally assumed, but may rather be a part of the same unit. Such a morphological structure would make the intramitochondrial substance accessible to the cytoplasmic substance through the intermembrane channel. This structure would also facilitate the swelling of a mitochondrion either by an unfolding of the cristae, or a sliding of the two membranes, or by both these processes occurring simultaneously.
Article|
March 01 1962
THE REVERSAL OF MITOCHONDRIAL MEMBRANE
Satish Chandra
Satish Chandra
From the Section of Heterologous Oncology, Division of Experimental Pathology, and the Section of Electron Microscopy, Division of Pathology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York.
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Satish Chandra
From the Section of Heterologous Oncology, Division of Experimental Pathology, and the Section of Electron Microscopy, Division of Pathology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York.
Dr. Chandra's present address is Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Buffalo, New York
Received:
July 19 1961
Online ISSN: 1540-8140
Print ISSN: 0021-9525
Copyright, 1962, by The Rockefeller Institute Press
1962
J Cell Biol (1962) 12 (3): 503–513.
Article history
Received:
July 19 1961
Citation
Satish Chandra; THE REVERSAL OF MITOCHONDRIAL MEMBRANE . J Cell Biol 1 March 1962; 12 (3): 503–513. doi: https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.12.3.503
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