ER–Mitochondria Contact Sites Reporters: Strengths and Weaknesses of the Available Approaches

• Main Authors: Flavia Giamogante, Lucia Barazzuol, Marisa Brini, Tito Calì
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-10-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: ER–mitochondria tethering; split-GFP; SPLICS; organelle contact sites
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/21/8157

Organelle intercommunication represents a wide area of interest. Over the last few decades, increasing evidence has highlighted the importance of organelle contact sites in many biological processes including Ca²⁺ signaling, lipid biosynthesis, apoptosis, and autophagy but also their involvement in pathological conditions. ER–mitochondria tethering is one of the most investigated inter-organelle communications and it is differently modulated in response to several cellular conditions including, but not limited to, starvation, Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) stress, and mitochondrial shape modifications. Despite many studies aiming to understand their functions and how they are perturbed under different conditions, approaches to assess organelle proximity are still limited. Indeed, better visualization and characterization of contact sites remain a fascinating challenge. The aim of this review is to summarize strengths and weaknesses of the available methods to detect and quantify contact sites, with a main focus on ER–mitochondria tethering.