Describe the key steps required to isolate a sample of mitochondria from fresh mammalian liver tissue using cell fractionation techniques.
Mitochondria are able to synthesise some of their own proteins. Give one structure found within mitochondria that enables translation to occur, and describe how this structure differs from its equivalent in the cytoplasm of a eukaryotic cell.
Scientists investigated the effect of thyroid hormone deficiency on the lipid and protein composition of skeletal muscle mitochondria. They compared a control group of mice with a thyroid-deficient group.
They measured the mass of protein and the mass of the mitochondrial lipid cardiolipin in the isolated mitochondria, expressing the values for the thyroid-deficient group as a percentage of the control group:
| Measurement | Value in thyroid-deficient mitochondria / % of control |
|---|---|
| Mass of protein | 808080 |
| Mass of cardiolipin | 252525 |
Given that the ratio of protein to cardiolipin in the control group is 5:15:15:1, calculate the ratio of protein to cardiolipin in the thyroid-deficient mitochondria.
