Morphometric Examination of Mitochondrial Ultrastructure in Aging Cardiomyocytes

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Ch. M. El’darov^1,2, V. B. Vays^1,2, I. M. Vangeli^1,2, N. G. Kolosova³, and L. E. Bakeeva^1,2*

¹Lomonosov Moscow State University, Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, 119991 Moscow, Russia; fax: +7 (495) 939-3181; E-mail: fhb@belozersky.msu.ru; bakeeva@belozersky.msu.ru

²Lomonosov Moscow State University, Institute of Mitoengineering, 119991 Moscow, Russia; fax: +7 (495) 939-5945; E-mail: info@mitotech.ru

³Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia; fax: +7 (383) 333-1278; E-mail: kolosova@bionet.nsc.ru

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received December 17, 2014; Revision received January 28, 2015

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Mitochondrial ultrastructure in cardiomyocytes from 3- and 24-month-old Wistar and OXYS rats was investigated using a new approach designed for morphometric analysis. The data fully confirm the electron microscopy data: the area of the inner mitochondrial membrane per unit volume of mitochondria was significantly decreased with age, as found on heart muscle section. In 3-month-old Wistar rats from the control group, this parameter was 41.3 ± 1.52 µm²/µm³, whereas in OXYS rats it was decreased to 30.57 ± 1.74 µm²/µm³. With age, an area of the inner mitochondrial membrane per unit volume of mitochondria declined in both rat strains: Wistar – from 41.3 ± 1.52 to 21.47 ± 1.22 µm²/µm³, OXYS – from 30.57 ± 1.74 to 16.3 ± 0.89 µm²/µm³. A new method that we designed and used for morphometric analysis notably simplifies the process of morphometric measurements and opens up good opportunities for its further optimization using image recognition technology.

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KEY WORDS: morphometry, aging, ultrastructure, cardiomyocyte

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297915050132

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