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Mitochondrial fission in apoptosis

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 6, pages 657–663 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

Mitochondria fuse and divide continuously within cells to form a dynamic network. One of the steps in apoptosis is the fragmentation of mitochondria, and recent evidence indicates that the mitochondrial fission machinery actively participates in the process of programmed cell death.

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Figure 1: Dynamics of the mitochondrial network in mammalian cells.
Figure 2: Models of DRP1 mitochondrial scission.
Figure 3: Mitochondrial fragmentation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank B. Fell, C. Blackstone and C. Smith for valuable discussions. We regret that we could not cite all the relevant literature owing to space constraints.

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  1. the Biochemistry Section, Surgical Neurology Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892, Maryland, USA

    Richard J. Youle & Mariusz Karbowski

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Correspondence to Richard J. Youle.

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DATABASES

Swiss-Prot

BAK

BCL2

BID

BIK

DRP1

endophilin B1

MFN1

MFN2

OPA1

Vps1

FURTHER INFORMATION

Richard Youle's laboratory

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Youle, R., Karbowski, M. Mitochondrial fission in apoptosis. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 6, 657–663 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm1697

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