Figure 1.

Topology of mitochondrial inner membranes. Left and middle: cristae of isolated, intact, frozen-hydrated rat-liver mitochondria.¹¹ The large crista compartments appear to be formed by fusion of tubular membranes. These cristae are approximately 600 nm in length. Right: Inner membrane of a mouse liver mitochondrion pre-treated with the pro-apoptotic protein t-Bid.⁶ Rather than forming discrete compartments, the intracristal space is essentially one continuous compartment. The diameter of this mitochondrion is 860 nm