Courtesy of Husseini Manji
The surge in intracellular calcium during an individual action potential is rapidly buffered by mitochondrial calcium uptake. The release of calcium back into the cytoplasm is believed to allow for post-tetanic potentiation. ATP-production is essential for vesicle docking, fusion and endocytosis. Mitochondrial pathology and some treatments affect the mitochondrial membrane potential. Disrupting the MMP results in more pronounced calcium spikes; chaotic, dysynchronized release; inhibition of endocytosis and neurotransmitter release; and rapid fatigue of various energy-dependent processes.
The mitochondrion, powerhouse of the eukaryotic cell, sits at the center of converging lines of brain-disorder research. Researchers have implicated the organelle in the pathophysiology of distinct conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The motif of convergence extends to results obtained by disparate approaches ranging from molecular and biochemical to clinical, and from empirical to hypothetical. In the brain, energy produced through oxidative phosphorylation in the mitochondrion not only ...
