Targeting Mitochondria 2025 Best Image Submissions
The flame within
By Parnasree Mahapatra, Ph.D student, Ion channel lab, School of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research, Jatni, Khurdah, India
Study Context : Super resolution image of mitochondria labelled with Mito tracker red and transfected with TRPV4 MTS DNA construct in Saos-2 cell
Lighting Up Mitochondrial Stress: SNX9 Dynamics in Parkinson’s disease
By Jimna Mohamed Ameer, PhD student, Inter University Centre for Biomedical Research and Super Speciality Hospital, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India
Study Context: MPP⁺-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in differentiated SH-SY5Y cells models early events in Parkinson’s disease. This neurotoxic stress causes mitochondrial fragmentation and disrupts endolysosomal functions. Our results reveal that Sorting Nexin 9 (SNX9), a membrane remodelling protein involved in endocytosis, is recruited to dysfunctional mitochondria following MPP⁺ treatment. This suggests a potential role for SNX9 in mitochondrial-derived vesicle (MDV) formation or mitochondrial quality control, providing novel insights into mitochondrial signalling and vesicular trafficking during neurodegenerative stress responses.
Glow and behold: Mitochondria on the move
By Phua Qian Hua, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR),Singapore, National University of Singapore
Description : This image captures our mitochondrial transplantation experiment, where healthy isogenic mitochondria were isolated from iPSCs and transplanted into MELAS endothelial cells - characterized by mitochondrial dysfunction. Confocal microscopy image taken after mitochondrial transplantation from healthy iPSC-derived mitochondria (labeled with MitoTracker Green) into diseased endothelial cells with dysfunctional endogenous mitochondria (labeled with MitoTracker Red).
Study Context: This experiment aimed to assess mitochondrial uptake and evaluate whether transplantation could restore mitochondrial and endothelial cell function.
Human cardiomyocytes
By Andrea Elia, Alzheimer's Center at Temple (ACT), Department of Neural Sciences, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia
Study Context: Human cardiomyocytes serve as a powerful model to elucidate the biological impact of Alzheimer’s disease-associated amyloid-β (Aβ) pathology on cardiac function, enabling direct investigation into the cellular mechanisms driving Aβ-induced cardiac dysfunction.Aβ40 oligomers impair mitochondrial architecture and destabilize cytochrome c integrity in human cardiomyocytes, indicating a potential mechanism of amyloid-induced cardiac dysfunction.
Glowing and Growing Mind: Mitochondria in Early Neural Development
By Sundas Arshad, Luxembourg centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg
Description : This fluorescent image represents LUHMES-derived dopaminergic neurons on Day 3 of differentiation. Nuclei are marked with DAPI (blue), TH positive dopaminergic neurons (Green), and mitochondria are stained with TOM20 (red), illuminating their vibrant distribution along the delicate neuronal processes. The dynamic mitochondrial network signifies the early stages of neuronal development and energy demand as these cells begin to specialize.
Study Context : This image is part of a study investigating mitochondrial remodeling during early neuronal differentiation. LUHMES cells, which are human embryonic neuronal precursor cells, have been utilized in several studies to investigate the PD and underlying mechanisms associated with it. Mitochondria were stained using TOM20, a marker of the outer mitochondrial membrane, to visualize their distribution and morphology. The goal of our study is to investigate the crosstalk between Ca²⁺ signaling and mitochondrial dynamics in dopaminergic neurons by combining live cell imaging and immunostaining techniques.
Bumpy mitochondrial track: a roadway to disease
By Ritoprova Sen, Integrated Ph.D. student of Biological Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bengaluru, India
Description: This is a projected fluorescent microscopy image depicting an AC16 human cardiomyocyte cell expressing a dominant negative disease mutant exhibiting hyper-elongated mitochondria. The outer mitochondrial membrane has been labelled with a construct expressing OMP25 (labelled in magenta) while the green denotes COXIV, an inner mitochondrial membrane protein which is a part of complex IV of the electron transport chain. The mutant manifests as elongated mitochondria, interrupted by bumps in the form of swollen bulbs as seen in magenta. Interestingly these swollen bulbs do not costain with COXIV in green. Whether such mitobulbs cause localized mitochondrial damage and consequently activation of mitochondrial quality control is currently an active area of investigation in the lab.
Study Context : Our study aims to investigate mitochondrial damage and quality control in the context of mitochondrial diseases, particularly in cardiomyocytes. One such mitochondrial disease associated mutant causes elongated mitochondria as observed in AC16 human cardiomyocyte cell line.
Galacto’Mitochondria in Cancer universe
By Lea Di Mascio, Research Engineer in molecular biology, Team 3 “ Metabolism, Cancer and Immune Response” at the Molecular Medicine Mediterranean Center (C3M) of Nice
Description: Here you can observe in A549 cells (Human cell line) the interaction between 2 mitochondrial proteins, one localized in the outer membrane of mitochondria (TOM20) and the other only visible under stress condition (PINK1). This experiment allows us to be sure that mitophagy is involved in lung cancer. TOM20 is red. Because we are under stress, the mitochondrial network is completely fragmented. PINK1 is green and only stabilized under stress condition. The colocalization between these two proteins is orange. This image is really interesting because we can easily observe the 3 colors and the explosion of the mitochondrial network in lung cancer like galaxies in universe.
Context of Study: As mitophagy is a major process that allows cancer cells to resist both environmental stress and chemotherapeutic agents and because lung cancer highly relies on mitochondrial metabolism, our team focuses on the mitochondria turn over during lung cancer progression. We are following the mitochondria metabolism at early and late stage of lung cancer progression (in vivo and in vitro) and we try to understand how the mitophagy is involved in the development and resistance to treatment.
Mitoverse: Multiverse of Mitochondria
By Pratiti Rout, PhD Scholar Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen and doing part of her doctoral research at Philipps-Universität Marburg
Description: The image showcases how in a single tissue (seminal vesicle of Drosophila male reproductive system) mitochondria can adapt to such diverse architectures (interconnected networks- * in yellow, fragmented and globular shapes - * in white). Phalloidin marks actin in red, DAPI stains the nuclei in blue and mitochondria in the muscles of seminal vesicle is visualised in green with Mef2-Gal4 driven UAS-mitoGFP. MEF is muscle-specific transcription factor.
Study Context: Mitochondrial dynamics is crucial for muscle function. In this study, we explore the role of mitochondrial architecture in muscle development and function using Drosophila as a model organism. In our attempt to observe differences in mitochondria morphology in different muscle types found in Drosophila male reproductive tissues, we aquired this image using Leica Stellaris confocal microscope. Accessory glands like seminal vesicles are usually surrounded by multinucleated striated muscles whereas testes has smooth-like muscles. Surprisingly, we observed different shapes of mitochondria in muscles of one single tissue (seminal vesicle) compelling us to reflect on the idea of 'multiverse of mitochondria'.
A Quiet Outlier : Mitochondrial Harmony in a Fragmented Cellscape
By Doğa Buse Köm, MSc Student, Graduate School of Health and Sciences, Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey
Description : The mitochondrial architecture showed remarkable cell-to-cell diversity, as shown by fluorescence imaging. The majority of cells have fragmented morphologies and a compact, perinuclear distribution of mitochondria. A large, highly reticulated mitochondrial network, on the other hand, is visible in a prominent central cell, indicating a fused and metabolically active state. This unique shape could be a result of variations in the surrounding microenvironment, mitochondrial health, or cell cycle phase.
Study Context: Hoechst 33342 and MitoTracker Green were used to stain A549 cells to see the morphology of the nucleus and mitochondria. Understanding how cellular context and culture conditions affect mitochondrial dynamics and how these alterations relate to structural and functional modifications in epithelial cancer cells is the goal of the study.
Mito-art : Stopping to enjoy the process
By Tania Arguello Saenz, Ph.D, Carlos Moraes Laboratory, University of Miami, Fl, USA
Description: Localizing events of the mitochondrial outer membrane protein TOM20 antibody signal surrounding the nucleus in a HEK293T cell using gradient color, Voronoi tessellation filling polygons (512 x 512, 10,000 frames)"
Study Context: Single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) process analysis of the mitochondrial outer membrane protein TOM20 used as a reference to measure colocalization events with other not known (not shown) outer and/or inner mitochondrial membrane proteins.
The Green Thread of Life
By Sambeet Jena, BS-MS at Neuroscience and Stem Cell Biology Lab, School of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhubaneswar, India
Subtitle: Super-resolution imaging of TOMM20-labelled mitochondria reveals the elegant architecture of the cell’s energy network.
Study Context: This image captures mitochondria in striking detail using ELYRA SIM super-resolution microscopy. Labelled with TOMM20 to mark the outer mitochondrial membrane, these glowing green filaments weave through the cytoplasm, connecting sites of energy demand with the source that powers them. In neurons, these threads are more than structural—they’re essential for memory, survival, and synaptic plasticity. Here, they stand as the silent green threads holding life together.
Inflamed Harmony : Red Echoes Around a Blue Core
By Jitesh Gupta,Dept. of Animal Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, India
Description : Confocal image of a human corneal epithelial cell showing an interconnected mitochondrial network (red) surrounding the nucleus (blue) under inflammatory stress.
The image shows a fluorescence micrograph of a human corneal epithelial cell treated with interferon (IFN) and tumour necrosis factor (TNF), illustrating mitochondrial morphology under inflammatory conditions. The nucleus is prominently stained blue with a DNA-binding dye (such as DAPI) and appears intact and centrally located. Mitochondria, labelled in red, display a fragmented and punctate distribution around the nucleus, deviating from the typical elongated, interconnected network observed in healthy cells. This mitochondrial fragmentation is indicative of inflammation-induced stress and is commonly associated with activation of mitochondrial fission pathways, disrupted mitochondrial dynamics, and potential initiation of apoptotic signaling. The altered morphology reflects the impact of IFN and TNF on mitochondrial integrity and function in human corneal epithelial cells, highlighting the role of mitochondrial remodelling during inflammatory responses in ocular surface tissues.
A New Light on Mitochondria: Multiplexed Visualization in Living Cells
By Natalija Trunkelj, Msc Pharmacy, 1st year PhD student, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Phamracy, Slovenia
Description: HeLa cells stained using our newly developed fluorescent mitochondrial dye (excited at 405 nm), revealing mitochondrial structures with high specificity. The nuclei are stained with Hoechst 33342 (excited at 405 nm), lysosomes with LysoTracker™ Red DND-99 (excited at 561 nm), the cell membrane with CellMask™ Deep Red (excited at 640 nm), and the endoplasmic reticulum with ER-Tracker™ Green (excited at 488 nm). The image was acquired using a Nikon AX Ti2 confocal microscope. Scale bar: 10 µm.
Context of the study: Our goal is to develop a new platform of fluorescent dyes specifically designed for the study of mitochondria and beyond to make a valid contribution to the bioimaging society. While conventional studies often rely only on confocal microscopy, we aim to develop dyes that are also compatible with two-photon microscopy and enable high-resolution imaging deep in tissues and in living samples.
Importantly, our platform is designed to support multiplex imaging and enable the simultaneous visualisation of multiple organelles in the same cell. Following the successful development of a novel dye that selectively and brightly attaches to mitochondria, we have extended our approach to other important organelles such as the nucleus, lysosomes, endoplasmic reticulum and cell membrane.
Our vision is to provide a versatile set of fluorescent probes that can be widely used for scientific purposes, allowing researchers to study cell dynamics and interactions between organelles in unprecedented detail.
A Mitochondrial Heterogeneity in THP-1 Macrophages : A Dynamic Landscape of Bioenergetic Diversity
By Himanshu Vankhede, Department of Biochemistry, University of Hyderabad, India
Description : This image highlights the heterogeneity of mitochondrial membrane potential in THP-1 monocytes, visualized using the potential-sensitive dye TMRE. The confocal microscopy image reveals distinct populations of mitochondria within individual cells, showcasing the diverse functional states of mitochondria in immune cells. This bioenergetic mosaic underscores the complexity of mitochondrial organization and its role in cellular energy regulation. By capturing the variation in membrane potential across a single population of cells, this image provides insight into the dynamic and adaptable nature of mitochondria in immune responses, potentially unveiling new directions for understanding cellular metabolism in health and disease.
Submit your Image and win a Free Registration
Have a memorable mitochondria image?
Submit your image for a chance to win free in-person or virtual registration to the 2025 congress.
We also welcome original artwork or drawings related to mitochondria, whether it's about life, energy, or dynamics.
Image Submission Guidelines:
To enter the contest, please submit the following information in a Word document:
- Your name
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- Your mitochondria image, including: A title/ A description of the image/ The context of the study
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