| Mitochondria biology is one of the fastest growing areas in genetics and medicine, having been implicated in over 100 diseases such as Parkinson’s, diabetes, dementia, multiple sclerosis, congestive heart failure, cancer metastases, to name a few. Hence, there is growing interest within the scientific community to evaluate changes in the mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) and further define its role in initiating apoptosis, cell cycle, or other cellular processes. Loss of the Δψm is often, but not always, observed to be associated with the early stages of apoptosis. Collapse of this potential is believed to coincide with the opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pores, leading to the release of cytochrome C into the cytosol which then triggers the downstream events in the apoptotic cascade. |
