Starvation of animals or cells triggers autophagic degradation of cell contents to retrieve nutrients, but, paradoxically, mitochondria enlarge. This is now shown to result from inhibition of mitochondrial fission through PKA-mediated phosphorylation of the GTPase DRP1. Elongation of mitochondria optimizes ATP production and spares them from autophagy-mediated destruction.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
Mitochondrial numbers increase during glucose deprivation in the slime mold Physarum polycephalum
Protoplasma Open Access 02 July 2019
-
Preovulatory exposure to a protein-restricted diet disrupts amino acid kinetics and alters mitochondrial structure and function in the rat oocyte and is partially rescued by folic acid
Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology Open Access 17 January 2019
-
Deep Analysis of Mitochondria and Cell Health Using Machine Learning
Scientific Reports Open Access 05 November 2018
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Yang, Z. & Klionsky, D. J. Nat. Cell Biol. 12, 814–822 (2010).
Wilson, J. W. & Leduc, E. H. J. Cell Biol. 16, 281–296 (1963).
Ratcliffe, N. A. & King, P. E. Z. Zellforsch Mikrosk. Anat. 99, 459–468 (1969).
Westermann, B. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 11, 872–884 (2010).
Gomes, L. C., Di Benedetto, G. & Scorrano, L. Nat. Cell Biol. 13, 589–598 (2011).
Chang, C-R. & Blackstone, C. J. Biol. Chem. 282, 21583–21587 (2007).
Cribbs, J. T. & Strack, S. EMBO Rep. 8, 939–944 (2007).
Chang, C-R. & Blackstone, C. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1201, 34–39 (2010).
Cereghetti, G. M. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 105, 15803–15808 (2008).
Hailey, D. W. et al. Cell 141, 656–667 (2010).
Youle, R. J. & Narendra, D. P. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 12, 9–14 (2011).
Tanaka, A. et al. J. Cell Biol. 191, 1367–1380 (2010).
Tondera, D. et al. EMBO J. 28, 1589–1600 (2009).
Egan, D. F. et al. Science 331, 456–461 (2011).
Kundu, M. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 10.1089/ars.2010.3809 (in the press).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Blackstone, C., Chang, CR. Mitochondria unite to survive. Nat Cell Biol 13, 521–522 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb0511-521
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb0511-521
This article is cited by
-
Preovulatory exposure to a protein-restricted diet disrupts amino acid kinetics and alters mitochondrial structure and function in the rat oocyte and is partially rescued by folic acid
Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology (2019)
-
Mitochondrial numbers increase during glucose deprivation in the slime mold Physarum polycephalum
Protoplasma (2019)
-
Deep Analysis of Mitochondria and Cell Health Using Machine Learning
Scientific Reports (2018)
-
GRK2 moderates the acute mitochondrial damage to ionizing radiation exposure by promoting mitochondrial fission/fusion
Cell Death Discovery (2018)
-
Relationship Between β-Amyloid and Mitochondrial Dynamics
Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology (2017)