Abstract
The functional state of mitochondria at the moment of fixation may be inferred from their morphological conformation. When incubated in a medium which does not support oxidative phosphorylation, isolated mitochondria have the ordinary appearance, but after incubation in a medium which supports oxidative phosphorylation such mitochondria appear condensed.Near the surface of fresh rat heart muscle, which has been fixed in glutaraldehyde, formaldehyde or osmium tetroxide, occasional groups of mitochondria have a condensed form (Fig 1) while others have the ordinary appearance. Variations from compact to ordinary mitochondria along the tissue surface suggest that at any one time neighboring mitochondria may be in different functional states. However, all mitochondria more than ten to twenty microns from the surface of the tissue block appear ordinary suggesting that these mitochondria were all in an inactive metabolic state when fixation was completed (Fig 2). Perhaps a front of fixative solution permeates the deeper portions of the tissue and stops the oxidative phosphorylation of all mitochondria before actual fixation takes place.
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