J Vis Exp. 2024 May 03.
Over the last decades, the evidence accumulated about the existence of respiratory supercomplexes (SCs) has changed our understanding of the mitochondrial electron transport chain organization, giving rise to the proposal of the "plasticity model." This model postulates the coexistence of different proportions of SCs and complexes depending on the tissue or the cellular metabolic status. The dynamic nature of the assembly in SCs would allow cells to optimize the use of available fuels and the efficiency of electron transfer, minimizing reactive oxygen species generation and favoring the ability of cells to adapt to environmental changes. More recently, abnormalities in SC assembly have been reported in different diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders (Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease), Barth Syndrome, Leigh syndrome, or cancer. The role of SC assembly alterations in disease progression still needs to be confirmed. Nevertheless, the availability of enough amounts of samples to determine the SC assembly status is often a challenge. This happens with biopsy or tissue samples that are small or have to be divided for multiple analyses, with cell cultures that have slow growth or come from microfluidic devices, with some primary cultures or rare cells, or when the effect of particular costly treatments has to be analyzed (with nanoparticles, very expensive compounds, etc.). In these cases, an efficient and easy-to-apply method is required. This paper presents a method adapted to obtain enriched mitochondrial fractions from small amounts of cells or tissues to analyze the structure and function of mitochondrial SCs by native electrophoresis followed by in-gel activity assays or western blot.