Impaired Mitochondrial Fusion and Oxidative Phosphorylation Triggered by High Glucose Is Mediated by Tom22 in Endothelial Cells

Figure 3

Loss of Tom22 shifts the balance of mitochondrial morphology toward fission. HUVECs were transfected with Tom22 siRNA to knock down the expression of Tom22. NC represents the negative control. (a) The real-time PCR analysis showed that Tom22 expression was decreased by siRNA knockdown (). (b) Western blot analysis was detected to evaluate the efficiency of the Tom22 siRNA knockdown (). (c) Representative confocal microscopy images of HUVECs stained with MitoTracker® Deep Red. Scale bar: 10 μm. (d) Quantification of the form factor and aspect ratio of the mitochondrial networks (). (e) Representative images of mitochondria visualized by transmission electron microscopy. Mitochondria shortened in length in the Tom22 knockdown group. Scale bar: 200 nm (, , and vs. NC). NC: HUVECs transfected with negative control siRNA; Tom22 siRNA: HUVECs transfected with Tom22 siRNA to knock down the expression of Tom22. All data are presented as .

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)