Table 1.
Giant mitochondria dimensions in cardiomyocytes
| Author (Refs.) | Species | Experimental model | Anatomical location | GM Length (L) × width (W) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraus and Cain [33] | Human | Primary cardiomyopathy with no history of alcohol abuse | Right ventricle septum | > 30.0 µm length (surface area 44–72 µm2) |
| Arbustini et al. [4] | Human | Dilated cardiomyopathy with mtDNA mutation | Right ventricle | > 6 sarcomeres in length* |
| Kanzaki et al. [31] | Human | Dilated phase of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy | Left ventricle | 13.0 × 5.0 µm* |
| Tandler et al. [68] | Human | Restrictive cardiomyopathy | – | ~ 14 × 3 µm |
| Slautterback [62] | Avian | Canaries, Sparrows, Zebra Finches, Quail and Geese | Ventricle |
2.5 × 4.0 µm 0.5 × 9.0 µm |
| Wollenberger & Schulze [78] | Dog | Young adult shepherd dogs with aortic banding induced chronic heart failure | Left & right ventricle | > 10.0 µm length |
| Liang et al. [38] | Mouse | C57BL/6 mice at 4- and 24 month-old | Ventricle | 4.0 × 0.5 µm* |
| Song et al. [63] | Mouse | Drp1 null hearts | Left ventricle | 3.5 × 1.5 µm* |
| Woodall et al. [79] | Mouse | 12 month-old mice carrying proofreading defective mtDNA polymerase γ (POLG) models, and POLG crossed with human parkin over-expression (POLGxParkin-Tg) | Whole heart | 1.5 × 2.0 µm* |
| Coleman et al. [14] | Mouse | C57BL/6 female mice at 6 month, 17 month and 27 month-old were exposed to short- (6 weeks) or long-term (10 month) running schedules | Left ventricle | 27 month-old: 4.0 × 5.0 µm* |
| Mikami et al. [45] | Mouse | Isolated neonatal ventricular myocardial cells | Ventricles | 5–10 times normal size |
| Alexander et al. [3] | Mouse | C57Bl mice fed different liquid diets mimicking alcoholic cardiomyopathy | Left & right ventricle | 11.0–13.0 µm length |
| Tandler et al. [69] | Mouse | C57Bl/6 adult males with systemic deletion of Klf15 (kruppel-like factor 15) | Left ventricle | Up to 14 µm length |
| Laguens & Gomez-Dumm [34] | Rat | Adult male Wistar rats were exposed to 60-, 90- or 120 min swimming durations | Left & right ventricle |
90 min: 5.5 × 1.0 µm* 120 min: 8.0 × 1.2 µm* |
| Eppenberger-Eberhardt et al. [16] | Rat |
Isolated and cultured adult ventricular cardiomyocytes from 2month-old rats Para-crystalline inclusions observed |
Ventricle | 2.5 × 1.0 µm* |
| Stenger & Spiro [65] | Rat | Young animals. No specific age, strain or other conditions were detailed | Papillary muscle | 5.0 × 1.0 µm* |
| Sun et al. [67] | Rat | Hypoxic perfusion | Right ventricle | 12.0 × 3.0 µm* |
| Bakeeva et al. [5] | Naked mole rat | Naked mole rats aged 6 months, 3 years, 5 years and 11 years. Para-crystalline inclusions observed | Left ventricle |
5.y.o: 3.2 × 3.1 µm* 11.y.o: 2.2 × 2.5 µm* |
Brief summary of the reported mitochondria size (or changes) in different experimental or clinical conditions. Note, not all articles reviewed in this article report on quantitative mitochondrial width and length changes. In some of the reviewed work, the authors attempted to extrapolate the size of the mitochondria if sufficient information was provided as a reference point. A standard reference point, where a scale bar was not provided, is the sarcomere which is estimated to be ~ 2 µm. Extrapolated dimensions are indicated with an asterisk (*). For comparative reasons, the size of normal mitochondria in cardiomyocytes ranges between 1–2 µm in length and 0.5–1 µm in width