Crista

A crista (/ˈkrɪstə/, pl. cristæ) is a fold in the inner membrane of a mitochondrion. The name is from the Latin for crest or plume, and it gives the inner membrane its characteristic wrinkled shape, providing a large amount of surface area for chemical reactions to occur on. This aids aerobic cellular respiration, since the mitochondrion requires oxygen. Cristae are studded with proteins, including ATP synthase and a variety of cytochromes.

With the discovery of the dual membrane nature of mitochondria, the pioneers of mitochondrial ultrastructural research proposed different models for the organization of the mitochondrial inner membrane.^[1] Three models proposed were:

• ‘Baffle model’. According to Palade, the mitochondrial inner membrane is convoluted in a baffle-like manner with broad openings towards the intra-cristal space. This model entered most textbooks and was widely believed for a long time.
• ‘Septa model’. Sjöstrand suggested that sheets of inner membrane are spanned like septa (plural of septum) through the matrix, separating it into several distinct compartments.^[2]
• ‘Crista junction model’. Daems and Wisse proposed that cristae are connected to the inner boundary membrane via tubular structures characterized by rather small diameters, termed crista junctions (CJs). These structures were rediscovered recently by EM tomography, leading to the establishment of this currently widely accepted model.

^[3]

Electron transport chain of the cristae

A mitochondrion, with labeled cristae.

NADH is oxidized into NAD⁺, H⁺ ions, and electrons by an enzyme. FADH₂ is also oxidized into H⁺ ions, electrons, and FAD. As those electrons travel further through the electron transport chain in the inner membrane, energy is gradually released and used to pump the hydrogen ions from the splitting of NADH and FADH₂ into the space between the inner membrane and the outer membrane (called the intermembrane space), creating an electrochemical gradient.

This electrochemical gradient creates potential energy (see potential energy § chemical potential energy) across the inner mitochondrial membrane known as the proton-motive force. As a result chemiosmosis occurs, and the enzyme ATP synthase produces ATP from ADP and a phosphate group. This harnesses the potential energy from the concentration gradient formed by the amount of H⁺ ions. H⁺ ions passively pass into the mitochondrial matrix by the ATP synthase, and later help to re-form H₂O (water).

The electron transport chain requires a varying supply of electrons in order to properly function and generate ATP. However, the electrons that have entered the electron transport chain would eventually pile up like cars traveling down a blocked one-way street. Those electrons are finally accepted by oxygen (O₂), which combine with some of the praseodymium ions from the mitochondrial matrix through ATP synthase and the electrons that had traveled through the plasmodesmata. As a result, they form two molecules of water (H₂O). By accepting the electrons, oxygen allows the electron transport chain to continue functioning.

The electrons from each FAD molecule can form a total of 3 ATPs from ADPs and phosphate groups through the electron transport chain, while each FADH₂ molecule can produce a total of 2 ATPs.

As a result, 10 NADH molecules (from glycolysis and the Krebs cycle), along the 2 FADH₂ molecules can form a total of 34 ATPs during aerobic respiration (from a single electron transport chain). This means that combined with the Krebs Cycle and glycolysis, the efficiency for the electron transport chain is about 65%, as compared to only 3.5% efficiency for glycolysis alone.

Usefulness

The cristae greatly increase the surface area of the inner membrane on which the above-mentioned reactions may take place. The high surface area allows greater capacity for ATP generation.

Mathematical modelling suggested that the optical properties of the cristae in filamentous mitochondria may affect the generation and propagation of light within the tissue.^[4]

References

1. ↑ Griparic, L; van der Bliek, AM (April 2001). "The many shapes of mitochondrial membranes.". Traffic (Copenhagen, Denmark) 2 (4): 235–44. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0854.2001.1r008.x. PMID 11285133. 
2. ↑ Sjostrand, F (Jan 3, 1953). "Systems of double membranes in the cytoplasm of certain tissue cells" (PDF). Nature 171: 31–32. doi:10.1038/171031a0. Retrieved 11 January 2015. 
3. ↑ Zick, M; Rabl, R; Reichert, AS (January 2009). "Cristae formation-linking ultrastructure and function of mitochondria.". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1793 (1): 5–19. doi:10.1016/j.bbamcr.2008.06.013. PMID 18620004. 
4. ↑ Thar,R. and M.Kühl (2004). "Propagation of electromagetic radiation in mitochondria?". J.Theoretical Biology, 230(2), 261-270.