Mitochondria (red).FLICKR, NICHDThe technique: By keeping tabs on mitochondria, clinicians can distinguish healthy tissue from cancerous tissue and track cellular metabolism. But such subtle changes to tiny organelles are nearly impossible to detect in a clinical setting. A study published today (November 30) in Science Translational Medicine describes a new, noninvasive microscopy technique that tracks mitochondrial changes and could one day be used to help diagnose diseases.
“This is something that has been on everyone’s radar for a long time,” said Melissa Skala of the University of Wisconsin–Madison who was not involved in the study. “We’ve been developing this technology for some time, and hoping it could fill a niche in the clinic. [This study] exploits specific aspects of this technology.”
The technique revolves around the mitochondrial fluorescent enzyme NADH, which can be observed via multiphoton microscopy. By focusing on mitochondrial organization alone, researchers were able to distinguish healthy skin from basal cell carcinoma and melanoma samples, suggesting that their microscopy method could have clinical applications.
The background: “At the moment, looking at mitochondria is really not part of what doctors do in the clinic,” said coauthor Irene Georgakoudi of Tufts University ...
