Global Imaging of Mitochondrial Morphology in Tissues Using Transgenic Mice Expressing Mitochondrially Targeted Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein

Abstract

The most common approach to analyzing the static morphology of mitochondria involves staining by antibodies or fluorescent dyes specific for mitochondrial components. In this study, we present a new approach using transgenic (Tg) mice, mtGFP-Tg mice, which exclusively express EGFP in the mitochondrial matrix. This Tg strain enables the rapid and easy observation of mitochondria in many kinds of tissues of interest. Recently, many reports have indicated that mitochondrial abnormalities and disease phenotypes are closely associated. mtGFP-Tg mice will be very useful in demonstrating this association, via the use of hybrids of mtGFP-Tg mice and well-established model mice for human diseases.