Mitochondria are the center for all metabolic pathways within the eukaryotic cell. Being responsible for the production of over 95% of the cell's requirement of adenosine triphosphate any effect on the function of mitochondria is sure to cause disruption of cellular activity and even viability. As such, it comes as no surprise that many diseases have mitochondrial dysfunction at their core. Understanding mitochondrial function and capacity in the context of a study is key for perceiving and explaining the behavior of said disease or toxic effect. Here, we describe a wide array of simple and yet elegant assays that can be easily implemented to ascertain the function of mitochondria and thus greatly improve the understanding of how a certain disease or compound causes its effects on the cellular function.
Keywords: Calcium efflux; Mitochondrial isolation; Mitochondrial membrane potential; Mitochondrial swelling quantification; Oxygen consumption; ROS.