Evaluation and Quality Control of Mitochondrial Function: Where we are Now & What's Next?

Dr. Mik’s research focuses on the development and use of novel techniques to comprehensively measure tissue oxygenation and cellular oxygen utilization in vivo. Microvascular oxygen tension (μPO2) is measured by means of oxygen-dependent quenching of phosphorescence of injectable oxygen-sensitive dyes. Mitochon-drial oxygen tension (mitoPO2) is measured by delayed fluorescence of protoporphyrin IX. Recent technical advances now allow the simultaneous measurement of μPO2 and mitoPO2 in complex animal models. Next to comprehensive tissue oxygen measurements also a method for assessment of mitochondrial respiration in vivo has been developed. The Laboratory of Experimental Anesthesiology now possesses a unique setup for measuring oxygenation and oxygen consumption at the subcellular level in vivo. Topics of interest are mitochondrial dysfunction in sepsis and cellular adaptation to changes in oxygen homeostasis (oxygen conformance of metabolism).

 

Next to the preclinical research Bert Mik developed a clinical device for monitoring Cellular Oxygen METabolism (COMET), based on the delayed fluorescence lifetime technique for mitoPO2 measurements. Commercial versions of COMET have become available in 2016 and several clinical studies in and outside the ErasmusMC are currently being performed.