Purification of Mitochondria from Yeast Cells

Abstract

Mitochondria are the main site of ATP production during aerobic metabolism in eukaryotic non-photosynthetic cells1. These complex organelles also play essential roles in apoptotic cell death2, cell survival3, mammalian development4, neuronal development and function4, intracellular signalling5, and longevity regulation6. Our understanding of these complex biological processes controlled by mitochondria relies on robust methods for assessing their morphology, their protein and lipid composition, the integrity of their DNA, and their numerous vital functions. The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a genetically and biochemically manipulable unicellular eukaryote with annotated genome and well-defined proteome, is a valuable model for studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying essential biological functions of mitochondria. For these types of studies, it is crucial to have highly pure mitochondria. Here we present a detailed description of a rapid and effective method for purification of yeast mitochondria. This method enables the isolation of highly pure mitochondria that are essentially free of contamination by other organelles and retain their structural and functional integrity after their purification. Mitochondria purified by this method are suitable for cell-free reconstitution of essential mitochondrial processes and can be used for the analysis of mitochondrial structure and functions, mitochondrial proteome and lipidome, and mitochondrial DNA.