Figure 2.

Cardiolipin is important for cristae structure and supercomplex formation on the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM). The protein complexes of the electron transport chain reside on cristae membranes and cardiolipin (CL) provides curvatures on the IMM to increase surface area for the respiratory complexes. Cardiolipin also helps to organize the respiratory complexes into supercomplexes to facilitate electron transfer among the redox partners. Lastly, cardiolipin anchors the highly cationic cyt c (C) via electrostatic interaction to bring it in close proximity to Complex III and Complex IV for efficient electron transfer. IMS: intermembrane space.