Oxygen Consumption Measurements in Caenorhabditis elegans Using the Seahorse XF24

Suraiya Haroon; Marc Vermulst

doi:10.21769/BioProtoc.3288

Oxygen Consumption Measurements in Caenorhabditis elegans Using the Seahorse XF24

Bio Protoc. 2019 Jul 5;9(13):e3288. doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.3288.

Authors

Suraiya Haroon¹, Marc Vermulst²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Human Genetics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
² Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States.

Abstract

Mitochondria generate 90% of the energy required to sustain life. As a result, loss of mitochondrial function compromises almost every facet of human physiology. Accordingly, most mitochondrial diseases tend to present themselves as complex, multi-systemic disorders that can be difficult to diagnose. Depending on the severity of the mitochondrial dysfunction, the pathology can range from mild discomfort to severe epilepsy, blindness and paralysis. To develop therapies to these diseases, it will be important to optimize experimental techniques that can reliably quantify mitochondrial function, particularly in live cells or intact organisms. Here, we describe how a Seahorse XF24 Analyzer can be used to measure both basal and maximal respiration in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, and how this data can be interpreted to evaluate mitochondrial function.

Keywords: C. elegans; FCCP; Maximal respiration capacity; Mitochondria; Oxygen consumption; Seahorse XF24.