We thank the members of the Evans lab for their thoughtful feedback on this manuscript. This work is supported by Duke Whitehead Scholars, Duke Science and Technology Scholars, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Hanna Gray Fellowship. Figure 1A was made using BioRender.com.

Quantification of Mitochondrial Membrane Potential and Superoxide Levels

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

The workflow outlined here can be used to quantify mitochondrial membrane potential and superoxide levels robustly and reproducibly using fluorescence-based imaging30. There are important technical limitations to consider when designing these experiments. HeLa cells were transfected with an empty YFP vector, YFP-ParkinWT, or YFP-ParkinT240R. The empty YFP vector was used as a control to confirm that the experimental findings were specific to Parkin. For the transient transfec...

The mitochondrial network is a series of interconnected organelles that play a crucial role in energy production1, innate immunity2,3, and cell signalling4,5. Mitochondrial dysregulation has been associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson&#39;s disease (PD)6,7. PD is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder affecting dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra that impacts nearly 10 million people worldwide8. PD has been genetically linked to mitophagy, a mitochondrial quality control pathway necessary for maintaining cellular homeostasis that selectively removes damaged mitochondria9,10. Studies have identified multiple independent mitophagy pathways, including FUN14 domain containing 1 (FUNDC1)-mediated mitophagy, Bcl-2 interacting protein 3 (BNIP3)-facilitated mitophagy, NIX-dependent mitophagy, and the well-characterized PTEN-induced kinase 1 (PINK1)/Parkin-regulated mitophagy10,11. PINK1 (a putative kinase) and Parkin (an E3 ubiquitin ligase) work in tandem to phospho-ubiquitinate damaged mitochondria, which drives the formation of autophagosomes that engulf the damaged organelle and fuse with lysosomes to initiate degradation12,13,14,15,16. Mutations in Parkin have been associated with PD-linked phenotypes such as neurodegeneration via the loss of dopaminergic neurons17,18.
Here, a protocol is described in which HeLa cells, routinely used immortalized cells derived from cervical cancer, are used to investigate the role of Parkin in maintaining mitochondrial network health. HeLa cells express negligible levels of endogenous Parkin and therefore require exogenous Parkin expression19. To study the role of Parkin in mitochondrial network health, HeLa cells are transfected with either wild-type Parkin (ParkinWT), a Parkin mutant (ParkinT240R), or an empty control vector. ParkinT240R is an autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism mutation that affects Parkin E3 ligase activity, significantly reducing the efficiency of the mitophagy pathway20. HeLa cells are subject to mild (5 &#181;M) or severe (20 &#181;M) concentrations of carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl hydrazone (CCCP), a mitochondrial uncoupling agent. Treatment with severe concentrations of CCCP is routinely used to induce Parkin-mediated mitophagy in various cell lines, such as HeLa and COS-7 cells21,22,23.
Following treatment, the protocol employs live imaging of the mitochondrial network using two currently available mitochondrial-targeted fluorescent dyes. Tetramethylrhodamine, ethyl ester, perchlorate (TMRE) is a cationic dye that fluoresces based on mitochondrial membrane potential24, while MitoSOX is a mitochondrial superoxide indicator where the fluorescence intensity is a function of superoxide concentration25. Finally, the outlined protocol uses a fluorescence-based quantification and simple workflow to effectively quantify the mitochondrial membrane potential and superoxide levels with minimal scope for user bias. Although this protocol was designed to study mitochondrial function in HeLa cells, it can be adapted for additional cell lines and primary cell types to quantitively characterize mitochondrial network health.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Chemicals, Peptides, and Recombinant Proteins</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CCCP (carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl hydrazone)&#160;</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>C2759</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DMEM (1x) with 4.5 g/L glucose</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>11-965-084</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DMSO, Anhydrous</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>D12345</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fetal Bovine Serum</td>
			<td>Hyclone</td>
			<td>SH3007103</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>FuGENE 6 (Tranfection Reagent)</td>
			<td>Promega</td>
			<td>E2691</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>GlutaMAX 100x (L-Glutamine Solution)&#160;</td>
			<td>Gibco&#160;</td>
			<td>35-050-061</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Hoescht 33342</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>62249</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MitoSOX&#160; Red&#160;</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>M36008</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MitoTracker Deep Red</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>M7514</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Opti-MEM (Redued Serum media)</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher scientific</td>
			<td>31985070</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tetramethylrhodamine, Ethyl Ester, Perchlorate (TMRE)&#160;</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>T669</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Experimental models: Organisms/Strains</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>HeLa-M (Homo sapiens)</td>
			<td>A. Peden (Cambridge Institute for Medical Research)</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Recombinant DNA</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>EYFP Empty Vector</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>YFP-Parkin T240R</td>
			<td>This Paper</td>
			<td>Generated by site-directed mutagenesis from YFP-Parkin</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>YFP-Parkin WT</td>
			<td>Addgene; PMID:19029340</td>
			<td>RRID:Addgene_23955</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Software and Algorithms</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Adobe Illustrator</td>
			<td>Adobe Inc.</td>
			<td>https://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator</td>
			<td>(Schindelin, 2012)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Excel (Spreadsheet Software)</td>
			<td>Microsoft Office&#160;</td>
			<td>https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/excel</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ImageJ</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>https://imagej.net/software/fiji/</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Leica Application Suite (LAS X)</td>
			<td>Leica</td>
			<td>https://www.leica-microsystems.com/products/microscope-software/p/leica-las-x-ls/</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Microsoft Excel</td>
			<td>Microsoft Office</td>
			<td>https://www.microsoft.com/excel</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Prism9 (Statistical Analysis Software)</td>
			<td>GraphPad Software</td>
			<td>https://www.graphpad.com</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Other</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>35 mm Dish, No. 1.5 Coverslip, 20 mm Glass Diameter, Uncoated</td>
			<td>MatTek</td>
			<td>P35G-1.5-20-C</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Cage Incubator (Environmental Chamber)</td>
			<td>Okolab</td>
			<td>https://www.oko-lab.com/cage-incubator</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DMiL Inverted Microscope</td>
			<td>Leica</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>LIGHTNING Deconvolution Software</td>
			<td>Leica</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>STELLARIS 8 confocal microscope</td>
			<td>Leica</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

fluorescence-based quantification of mitochondrial membrane potential and superoxide levels using live imaging in hela cells

Mitochondria are dynamic organelles critical for metabolic homeostasis by controlling energy production via ATP synthesis. To support cellular metabolism, various mitochondrial quality control mechanisms cooperate to maintain a healthy mitochondrial network. One such pathway is mitophagy, where PTEN-induced kinase 1 (PINK1) and Parkin phospho-ubiquitination of damaged mitochondria facilitate autophagosome sequestration and subsequent removal from the cell via lysosome fusion. Mitophagy is important for cellular homeostasis, and mutations in Parkin are linked to Parkinson's disease (PD). Due to these findings, there has been a significant emphasis on investigating mitochondrial damage and turnover to understand the molecular mechanisms and dynamics of mitochondrial quality control. Here, live-cell imaging was used to visualize the mitochondrial network of HeLa cells, to quantify the mitochondrial membrane potential and superoxide levels following treatment with carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl hydrazone (CCCP), a mitochondrial uncoupling agent. In addition, a PD-linked mutation of Parkin (ParkinT240R) that inhibits Parkin-dependent mitophagy was expressed to determine how mutant expression impacts the mitochondrial network compared to cells expressing wild-type Parkin. The protocol outlined here describes a simple workflow using fluorescence-based approaches to quantify mitochondrial membrane potential and superoxide levels effectively.

Author Spotlight: Fluorescence-Based Quantification of Mitochondrial Membrane Potential and Superoxide Levels Using Live Imaging in HeLa Cells  

Fluorescence-Based Quantification of Mitochondrial Membrane Potential and Superoxide Levels Using Live Imaging in HeLa Cells

In this protocol, fluorescence-based quantification was used to measure the membrane potential and superoxide levels of the mitochondrial network following CCCP treatment (Figure 1). This workflow used HeLa cells, an immortalized cell line derived from cervical cancer. HeLa cells are routinely used to study mitochondrial biology and are relatively flat, making it easy to visualize the mitochondrial network using microscopy. To investigate the role of Parkin in maintaining mitochondrial netwo...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Fluorescence-Based Quantification of Mitochondrial Membrane Potential and Superoxide Levels Using Live Imaging in HeLa Cells at JoVE.com

This technique describes an effective workflow to visualize and quantitatively measure mitochondrial membrane potential and superoxide levels within HeLa cells using fluorescence-based live imaging.

Mitochondria are dynamic organelles critical for metabolic homeostasis by controlling energy production via ATP synthesis. To support cellular metabolism, ...

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3.3K Views.  Duke University Medical Center. This technique describes an effective workflow to visualize and quantitatively measure mitochondrial membrane potential and superoxide levels within HeLa cells using fluorescence-based live imaging. 

Video: Author Spotlight: Fluorescence-Based Quantification of Mitochondrial Membrane Potential and Superoxide Levels Using Live Imaging in HeLa Cells  