To begin the mitochondria labeling prepare a 20 micromolar solution of BrdU in DMEM with 10%fetal bovine serum or FBS. Then add the mitochondria tracking dye to adjust the final concentration to 1.1 micromolar. After 15 hours add 10 microliters of the mitochondria tracking dye solution to the HeLa cell suspension containing wells.
Incubate the cells for one hour. The conditions used to label newly synthesized DNA molecules with BrdU allowed the detection of BrdU labeled DNA in the mitochondria of HeLa cells. The signal obtained with anti-BrdU antibodies was specific and only observed in cells treated with BrdU.
Regardless of BrdU treatment no anti-BrdU or anti-DNA antibody signal was detected in the mitochondria of row zero cells. Quantifying the fluorescent signal from the anti-BrdU antibodies indicated that row zero cells treated with BrdU showed the same low level of fluorescence as the BrdU untreated cells, while the signal for the parental lines A549 and HeLa were 50 fold higher.
