Ultrastructural evidence for impaired mitochondrial fission in the aged rhesus monkey dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

ABSTRACT: Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex mediates high-order cognitive functions that are impaired early in the aging process in monkeys and humans. Here, we report pronounced changes in mitochondrial morphology in dendrites of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex neurons from aged rhesus macaques. Electron microscopy paired with 3D reconstruction from serial sections revealed an age-related increase in mitochondria with thin segments that intermingled with enlarged ones, the 'mitochondria-on-a-string' phenotype, similar to those recently reported in patients with Alzheimer's disease. The thin mitochondrial segments were associated with endoplasmic reticulum cisterns, and the mitochondrial proteins Fis1 and Drp1, all of which initiate mitochondrial fission. These data suggest that the 'mitochondria-on-a-s

SUBMITTER: Morozov YM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5292282 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature