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

Study Context : 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).

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

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

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. 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.

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

Study Context : Our team is studying how mitophagy is involved in lung cancer.

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. 

Context of the study: 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'. 

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:

1. Your name
2. Your complete affiliation
3. A picture of yourself (optional)
4. Your mitochondria image, including: A title/ A description of the image/ The context of the study

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