Community assembly following disturbance is a key process in determining the composition and function of the future community. However, replicated studies of community assembly at whole ecosystem scales are rare. Here is described a series of whole-lake experiments in which the recovery of zooplankton communities is tracked following an ecosystem-scale disturbance. Fourteen lakes in eastern Washington were chosen: seven lakes were treated with rotenone, while the remaining seven were reference. Each lake was monitored up to six months before and one to two years after the rotenone treatments. Zooplankton tows were taken monthly, at a shallow, intermediate, and deep site in each lake, and were later enumerated and identified. A depth profile of environmental variables was taken at the deepest site. Community responses following disturbance were assessed using coarse metrics of abundance and diversity, community composition measures, and the relative importance of species traits was assessed by grouping taxa into functional groups. Communities were considered recovered if there was no significant difference between treatment and reference in zooplankton community metrics of abundance, diversity, and composition. There was a steep decline in the abundance and diversity of the zooplankton community post-treatment. In many of the lakes, cyclopoid copepods, the group with a unique dormancy strategy, were the first group to recover, remained dominant for a few months, and may have exhibited priority effects advantages. Calanoid copepods were the slowest group to recover, perhaps due to their slow rate of development. There were varying recovery times and patterns between lakes, potentially based upon geographic location and severity of the winter season. These findings suggest that dormancy strategies, rate of development, and abiotic conditions following disturbance may be important in helping to understand recovery processes. Results of this study may give insight to disturbance ecology and the relative importance abiotic versus biotic characteristics that structure post-impacted communities.

Parkinson&rsquo / s disease (PD) is characterized by the progressive loss of dopaminergic nigral neurons and striatal dopamine resulting in serious motor deficits but also some non-motor anomalies. Animal models of human neurodegenerative diseases are essential for better understanding their pathogenesis and developing efficient therapeutic tools. There are many different PD models, however, none of them is fully reproducing all the symptoms of the disease. In addition, different investigators use different behavioral measures which makes even more difficult to compare and evaluate the results. The aim of the present study was to compare motor and cognitive deficits in two most common models of PD: the Rotenone and 6-OHDA model, using a large battery of neurological tests and a probabilistic learning task. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the effects of bilaterally induced Rotenone and 6-OHDA through behavioral test batteries assessing the cardinal motor symptoms and the cognitive abnormality of Parkinson&rsquo / s Disease in the same rat population. Also, the present study is unique on the basis of providing both longitudinal observations of behaviour in the same treatment group and the cross-sectional comparisons of the behavioural responses between different groups. In the current study, the neurotoxins were applied at relatively low doses of 3-4 &mu / g, bilaterally to the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc). Experiments were conducted on 50 young-adult male Sprague&ndash / Dawley rats randomly assigned to five experimental groups: Rotenone, 6-OHDA, vehicle (DMSO/Saline), and the intact control. The neurological tests included locomotor activity,catalepsy, rearing, stepping, and rotarod/accelerod tests. They were applied prior to, and on days 4-7-10-20-40-150 while the learning task was applied 49 days after drug infusion.During the first 2 postoperational months, both neurotoxins produced progressive deterioration in motor performance but showing no effect on cognitive functions. Five months after the surgery, regression of bradykinesia but persistence of sensorimotor deficits was noted. The tests&rsquo / results suggest different susceptibility of different motor functions to the degeneration of nigro-striatal (N-S) pathway. So, different tests were demonstrated to have different power in detecting similar motor deficits.

Submitted by Ana Maria Fiscina Sampaio (fiscina@bahia.fiocruz.br) on 2016-02-04T16:39:34Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana Paula Amaral de Brito Efeito... 2015.pdf: 1294909 bytes, checksum: 78c71eb987dd6a713939584ccdf4650a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Maria Fiscina Sampaio (fiscina@bahia.fiocruz.br) on 2016-02-04T16:39:50Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana Paula Amaral de Brito Efeito... 2015.pdf: 1294909 bytes, checksum: 78c71eb987dd6a713939584ccdf4650a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-04T16:39:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana Paula Amaral de Brito Efeito... 2015.pdf: 1294909 bytes, checksum: 78c71eb987dd6a713939584ccdf4650a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Universidade Federal da Bahia, Faculdade de Medicina. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Os astrócitos são o tipo celular mais numeroso no sistema nervoso central (SNC). Eles exercem suporte estrutural, trófico, e metabólico para neurônios e modulam a atividade sináptica. Então, o prejuízo nestas funções dos astrócitos pode influenciar na sobrevivência dos neurônios. De fato, numerosas evidências têm descrito a influência dos astrócitos no desenvolvimento de uma variedade de doenças neurodegenerativas. Neurotoxinas ambientais como rotenona, um inibidor específico do complexo I mitocondrial, provêem modelos de doenças neurodegenerativas tanto in vivo quanto in vitro. Sendo assim, a busca de novas substâncias com atividade neuroprotetora é atualmente o foco de estudos, e uma tendência crescente tem sido direcionada para plantas medicinais. Neste trabalho investigou-se a influência do extrato aquoso de Valeriana officinalis (V. officinalis) e da rotenona sobre os aspectos eletrofisiológicos do funcionamento cerebral, e o efeito citoprotetor dos extratos com éter de petróleo (PE) e metanol (MeOH) de V. Officinalis contra a toxicidade induzida pela rotenona. O estudo adotou uma abordagem que associa técnicas químicas, celulares e eletrofisiológicas. Ratos machos albinos, Wistar, adultos, em condições normais de nutrição, foram divididos em: grupo valeriana, tratados, por gavagem, com extrato aquoso de valeriana (250 mg/kg/dias) durante 15 dias; grupo rotenona, tratados, por via subcutânea, com rotenona (10 mg/kg) durante 7 dias; grupo valeriana + rotenona, submetidos a ambos tratamentos. Os respectivos controles foram igualmente tratados com solução salina ou solução de 1% de Tween-80 em água. Após o período de tratamento, os animais foram anestesiados, submetidos à trepanação seguida do registro da depressão alastrante cortical (DAC), na superfície do córtex cerebral, por 4 horas. Para avaliação da citoxicidade da rotenona e da atividade citoprotetora dos extratos de V. officinalis foram realizadas análises de viabilidade celular através da redução do brometo de 3-(4,5-dimetiltiazol-2-il)-2,5-difeniltetrazolium (MTT) e visualização por microscopia de contraste de fase em células de glioma murino (C6) e humano (GL-15), além de astrócitos de rato como controle de células normais. Os animais tratados com rotenona apresentaram redução da velocidade de propagação DAC enquanto que os animais tratados com valeriana apresentaram um aumento da velocidade de propagação. No entanto, os animais tratados com rotenona e valeriana não apresentaram diferença estatística na velocidade de propagação da DAC quando comparado aos grupos controles. Os resultados demonstraram que a rotenona foi citotóxica nas linhagens testadas, reduzindo a viabilidade e alterando a morfologia celular de maneira dose-dependente. Os extratos de PE e MeOH de V. officinalis foram efetivos em aumentar a viabilidade celular, bem como reduzir as alterações morfológicas induzidas pela rotenona nas linhagens celulares testadas. A análise do RMN 1H dos extratos de V. Officinalis demonstrou a presença de substâncias terpenoides; esse resultado relaciona os efeitos de V. Officinalis a ação antioxidante. O extrato aquoso de V. Officinalis preveniu as alterações eletrofisiológicas induzidas pela rotenona. Os resultados corroboram com estudos pregressos que descrevem os extratos de V. officinalis com função citoprotetora, deixando esse composto muito mais próximo de testes que venham a confirmar sua efetividade em diversas modalidades terapêuticas. / Astrocytes are the most numerous cell type in the central nervous system (CNS). They provide structural, trophic and metabolic support to neurons, and they modulate synaptic activity. Accordingly, impairment in these astrocyte functions can critically influence neuron survival. Indeed, several evidences have presented the influence of astrocytes for the development of a variety of neurodegenerative disorders. Environmental neurotoxins such as rotenone, a specific inhibitor of mitochondrial complex I that generates reactive oxygen species (ROS), provide models of neurodegenerative disorders both in vivo and in vitro. Thus, the search for new substances with neuroprotective activity is currently the focus of studies, and a growing trend has been directed at medicinal plants. In this study, we investigated the influence of of Valeriana officinalis (V. officinalis) and rotenone in the brain function through neurophysiological aspects, and the citoprotective effect of petroleum ether (PE) and methanol (MeOH) extracts of V. officinalis against rotenone-induced toxicity. The study adopted an approach that combines chemical, cellular and eletrophisiological techniques. Wistar male rats (adults), in normal conditions of nutrition, were divided in: valerian group, treated by gavage, for 15 days, with 250 mg/kg/day of the aqueous extract of V. officinalis; rotenone group, treated with s.c. injections at the daily dose of 10 mg/kg for 7 days; rotenone + valerian group treated with both substances. The control groups were treated equally with saline solution or 1% Tween-80 solution in water. After the treatment period, the cortical spreading depression (CSD) was recorded for 4 h at 2 cortical points in the parietal region. In order to investigate the rotenone-induced citotoxicity and the antioxidant activity of V. officinalis extracts, cell viability assays were performed through the reduction of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), and visualization by phase contrast microscopy in rat glioma C6 cells and human glioblastoma GL-15 cells, as well as in rat astrocytes for comparison. The rotenone treated-animals presented lower mean CSD velocities, whereas CSD velocities were higher in the valerian-treated animals. When compared to the control animals, the treatment with rotenone plus valerian revealed no significant difference. The results demonstrated that rotenone was cytotoxic in the cell lines tested, reducing the cell viability and changing the cell morphology in a dose-dependent manner. The PE and MeOH extracts of V. officinalis were effective in increase cell ciability and reduce the rotenone-induced morphological changes in the tested cell lines. The 1H NMR analysis of V. Officinalis extracts showed the presence of terpenoid substances; this result relates the effects of V. Officinalis antioxidant action. The results corroborate previous studies describing the V. officinalis extracts with cytoprotective function, leaving the compound much closer to tests that will confirm their effectiveness in various therapeutic modalities

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Among various antioxidant therapeutic applications, neuroprotective action is highlighted sinceoxidative stress is recognized as one of the events involved in cell damage which occur in most of neurological disorders, including Parkinson s disease (PD). Consequently, the search for natural and/or synthetic antioxidants which may be effective in the treatment of neurological disorders has grown over the past years. In this context, several studies have shown the antioxidant potential of selenium organic compound diphenyl diselenide (DPDS) in vitro and in vivo, but there are still few studies talking about antioxidant activity of Valeriana officinalis (V. officinalis). Likewise, there is no research on the possible beneficial effects of these agents in models of neurological diseases such as PD using Drosophila melanogaster (D. melanogaster), an specie that has been used with great reliability in the reproduction of dopaminergic dysfunction models. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant activity of V. officinalis, as well as, the effect of supplementation of extract from roots of this plant and DPDS on behavioral and biochemical changes induced by pesticide rotenone exposure in D. melanogaster. As a result, we verify that: ethanolic extract from V. officinalis inhibited the generation of TBARS caused by various pro-oxidants agents in rat s brain homogenate in vitro, diminished deoxyribose degradation and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) caused by quinolinic acid (QA); flies exposed to rotenone were significantly lower than control group in behavioral tests of climbind and open-field (number of crossings and immobility time) and higher incidence of mortality. V. officinalis treatment was effective in reducing these effects, except against the decrease in number of crossings. Exposure to rotenone decreased in flies cell viability and non protein thiol content, but V. officinalis treatment normalized to the control levels. Rotenone increased mRNA expression on superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and tyrosine hydroxilase (TH) enzymes, which were restored by treatment with V. officinalis; DPDS supplementation was not effective in offering protection against locomotor and biochemical alterations induced by rotenone. In addition, DPDS per se induced an increase in ROS production and decreased survival rate of flies. In general, data showed that V. officinalis may be a promising neuroprotective agent, since it was effective in reducing the oxidative damage caused by different neurotoxic agents and toxic effects caused by rotenone exposure. Thus, the use of this plant extract may be beneficial in reducing neurological disorders associated to the oxidative stress. In relation to the use of DPDS, further studies aimed at the concentrations used are necessary, given that the concentration tested in this work did not offer protection against rotenone damage effects, DPDS potentiated the effect of this pesticide on mortality and exhibited toxic effects per se. Overall, these results contribute to the advancement of research focused on the toxicology and pharmacology of natural and synthetic products and screening for agent that provide neuroprotection and may be promising to assist in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, including PD. / Dentre as várias aplicações terapêuticas dos antioxidantes, destaca-se a ação neuroprotetora, uma vez que, o estresse oxidativo (EO) é reconhecido como um dos eventos envolvidos nos danos celulares que ocorrem na maioria das doenças neurológicas, incluindo a doença de Parkinson (DP). Consequentemente, a procura por antioxidantes naturais e/ou sintéticos que possam ser eficazes no tratamento de distúrbios neurológicos tem crescido muito ao longo dos últimos anos. Neste contexto, vários trabalhos têm evidenciado o potencial antioxidante do composto orgânico de selênio disseleneto de difenila (DPDS) in vitro e in vivo; mas, ainda, são escassos estudos acerca da atividade antioxidante da planta Valeriana officinalis (V. officinalis). Da mesma forma, ainda não há pesquisas sobre os possíveis efeitos benéficos desses agentes em modelos de doenças neurológicas, como a DP, utilizando a Drosophila melanogaster (D. melanogaster), uma espécie que vem sendo usada com bastante confiabilidade na reprodução de modelos de disfunção dopaminérgica. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a atividade antioxidante in vitro da V. officinalis, bem como, os efeitos oriundos da suplementação com o extrato da raiz desta planta e com DPDS sobre alterações comportamentais e bioquímicas induzidas pela exposição ao pesticida rotenona em D. melanogaster. Como resultados, verificamos que o extrato etanólico de V. officinalis inibiu a geração de TBARS causada por diferentes agentes pró-oxidantes, em homogeneizado de tecido cerebral de rato in vitro; diminuiu a degradação da desoxirribose e a geração de espécies reativas de oxigênio (ERO), causada pelo ácido quinolínico (AQ); as moscas expostas à rotenona tiveram um desempenho significativamente inferior ao grupo controle nos testes comportamentais de escalada e campo-aberto (número de cruzamentos e tempo de imobilidade), bem como, uma maior incidência de mortalidade. O tratamento com V. officinalis foi eficaz em reduzir esses efeitos, exceto frente à diminuição do número de cruzamentos. A exposição à rotenona diminui a viabilidade celular e o conteúdo de tiol protéico das moscas, que foi normalizada aos níveis do controle pelo tratamento com V. officinalis. A rotenona aumentou a expressão de mRNA das enzimas Superóxido dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT) e Tirosina hidroxilase (TH) quando comparado ao grupo controle e a alteração observada na expressão da SOD e CAT foi restaurada pelo tratamento com V. officinalis; a suplementação com DPDS não foi eficaz em oferecer proteção contra as alterações locomotoras e bioquímicas induzidas por rotenona. Além disso, o DPDS induziu per se um aumento na produção de ERO e uma diminuição na taxa de sobrevivência das moscas. De forma geral, os dados obtidos mostram que a V. officinalis pode ser considerada um agente neuroprotetor promissor, uma vez que foi eficaz em reduzir os danos oxidativos causados por diferentes pró-oxidantes e os efeitos tóxicos causados pela exposição à rotenona. Assim, o uso do extrato desta planta pode ser benéfico na redução de complicações neurológicas associadas ao EO. Com relação ao uso do DPDS, mais estudos voltados para as concentrações utilizadas são necessários, tendo em vista que, na concentração testada neste modelo experimental, o mesmo não ofereceu proteção contra os efeitos danosos da rotenona, potencializou o efeito do pesticida sobre a taxa de mortalidade e exibiu efeitos tóxicos per se. De forma geral, esses resultados contribuem para o avanço das pesquisas voltadas para a toxicologia e farmacologia de produtos naturais e sintéticos e para a triagem de agentes que ofereçam neuroproteção e possam ser promissores para auxiliar na terapêutica de doenças neurodegenerativas, incluindo a DP.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common chronic neurodegenerative disease characterized by dopamine decrease in the substantia nigra. Currently, there is no promising cure for PD and this has resulted in extensive research into alternative medicines. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of methanol and ethyl acetate extracts of Lannea schweinfurthii (Engl. Engl) (Anacardiaceae), Zanthoxylum capense (Thunb. Harv) (Rutaceae), Scadoxus puniceus ((L.) Friis & Nordal) (Amaryllidaceae) and Crinum bulbispermum (Burm. f.) Milne-Redh. & Schweick) (Amaryllidaceae) on rotenone-induced toxicity in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. The latter which mimics PD symptoms in vitro. Cytotoxicity of the plant extracts was assessed using sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured fluorometrically with the use of the fluorescent dye 2‟,7‟-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H2DCF-DA). Intracellular glutathione content was measured fluorometrically after staining with monochlorobimane (MCB). Fluorescent dye 5,5‟ ,6,6‟ -tetrachloro-1,1‟ ,3,3‟ -tetraethylbenzimidazolcarbocyanine iodide (JC-1) was used to assess the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) status of cells. Apoptosis was assessed by determining caspase-3 activity through detection of 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin (AMC) which is a product of caspace-3 substrate, acetyl-Asp-Glu-Val-Asp 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin (Ac-DEVD-AMC), cleaved by the caspase-3 enzyme. Rotenone was used as an in vitro model to induce PD-like symptoms. Cytotoxicity studies for methanol extract of Zanthoxylum capense revealed the highest IC50 value of 121.3 μg/mL, indicating low toxicity. The ethyl acetate extract of Crinum bulbispermum was observed to have no effect on the normal proliferation of the SH-SY5Y cells and produced an IC50 value >100 μg/mL. The calculated IC50 value obtained from rotenone cytotoxicity studies was 112 iv nM. Zanthoxylum capense and Scadoxus puniceus plant extracts were observed to be neuroprotective against rotenone-induced toxicity. A decrease in intracellular glutathione content as well as MMP was also observed in cells exposed to rotenone alone (50 nM). There was no intracellular ROS generation observed in cells exposed to rotenone alone (50 nM) after 24 h and 72 h. However, apoptotic cell death was observed in cells treated with rotenone (50 nM). Intracellular ROS production was observed to be elevated by methanol and ethyl acetate extracts of C. bulbispermum. Methanol extracts of Z. capense was observed to increase intracellular glutathione content. MMP was increased effectively following treatment with ethyl acetate extract of C. bulbispermum. Moreover, both methanol and ethyl acetate plant extracts were found to decrease caspase-3 activity significantly (p<0.05), in cells exposed to 50 nM rotenone. Z. capense methanol extract reduced caspase-3 activity the most effectively. Treatment with plant extracts was protective and decreased cell death. Furthermore, L. schweinfurthii, Z. capense, S. puniceus and C. bulbispermum, demonstrated strong antioxidant and anti-apoptotic effects against rotenone-toxicity, making them potential agents in developing therapies for treating PD. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Pharmacology / unrestricted

The pesticide/neurotoxin, rotenone, has been shown to cause systemic inhibition of mitochondrial complex I activity, with consequent degeneration of the nigrostriatal pathway, as observed in Parkinson’s disease. A novel intrastriatal rotenone model of Parkinson’s disease was used to examine the neuroprotective effects of valproic acid (VPA) and melatonin, both of which are known to induce neurotrophic gene expression in the central nervous system via mechanisms which may involve epigenetic modulation. In these studies, sham or lesioned rats were treated with either vehicle, VPA (4mg/mL), or melatonin (4µg/mL) in drinking water. Results from a forelimb asymmetry test indicated a significant decrease in use of the contralateral forelimb in rotenone-infused animals, in the third week post-surgery, which was abolished by VPA treatment. Apomorphine administration resulted in significantly higher ipsilateral rotation in rotenone-lesioned (12µg) animals, as compared to controls, which was attenuated by melatonin treatment. Subsequent immunohistochemical examination revealed a decrease in tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity within the striatum and substantia nigra of rotenone-infused animals. VPA or melatonin treatment prevented this decrease in tyrosine hydroxylase in the striatum and substantia nigra. Stereological cell counting indicated a significant decrease in dopamine neurons within the substantia nigra of rotenone-treated animals. Importantly, this loss of dopamine neurons in rotenone-infused animals was blocked by chronic VPA or melatonin treatment. A third study explored whether rotenone infusion into the medial forebrain bundle and substantia nigra in mice could provide a model of Parkinson's disease. Densitometric analysis revealed a significant depletion of tyrosine hydroxylase immunofluorescence within the ipsilateral striatum and substantia nigra of lesioned animals, and a significant bilateral overexpression of α-synuclein in the substantia nigra, as compared to control animals. These novel findings support the use of intracranial rotenone as a Parkinsonian model, and provide a solid platform for future combinatorial therapeutic approaches with VPA and melatonin. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

No description available.

No description available.

Metallothioneins (MTs) are small, non-enzymatic proteins that are involved in cellular detoxification and metal homeostasis because of their high cysteine content. MTs have also been identified as one of the vast number of adaptive responses to mitochondrial respiratory chain (RC) deficiencies. Aside from this, numerous other studies have linked MTs to several mitochondrion-linked components, including reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress, apoptosis, glutathione, energy metabolism and nuclear- and mitochondrial DNA transcription regulation. However, most of the reports concerning the putative link between MTs and mitochondria are from in vitro studies and relatively little supportive in vivo evidence has been reported. Information on the involvement of MTs with respiratory chain function is especially limited. Is was therefore the aim of this study to investigate the involvement of MTs in mitochondrial respiration and respiratory chain enzyme function by using an MT knockout (MTKO) mouse model, which was treated with the irreversible complex I inhibiting reagent, rotenone. The aim was achieved by implementing three objectives: firstly, the RC function was investigated as a complete working unit; secondly, the functional and structural properties of single units (enzymes) of the RC were investigated utilising enzyme activity assays and BN- PAGE/western blot analysis; and thirdly, the possible effect of MTs on mtDNA copy number was investigated. While some tendencies of variation in RC enzyme activity and expression were identified, no significant effect on the overall mitochondrial respiratory function, or any significant differences in the relative mtDNA copy number of MTKO mice were observed. Thus it is concluded, while MTs have in this study revealed relatively small changes in respiratory chain function, which may still prove to have biological ignificance in vivo, the exact nature of the putative role of MTs in mitochondrial respiration or oxidative phosphorylation remains undefined. / Thesis (MSc (Biochemistry))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Metallothioneins (MTs) are small, non-enzymatic proteins that are involved in cellular detoxification and metal homeostasis because of their high cysteine content. MTs have also been identified as one of the vast number of adaptive responses to mitochondrial respiratory chain (RC) deficiencies. Aside from this, numerous other studies have linked MTs to several mitochondrion-linked components, including reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress, apoptosis, glutathione, energy metabolism and nuclear- and mitochondrial DNA transcription regulation. However, most of the reports concerning the putative link between MTs and mitochondria are from in vitro studies and relatively little supportive in vivo evidence has been reported. Information on the involvement of MTs with respiratory chain function is especially limited. Is was therefore the aim of this study to investigate the involvement of MTs in mitochondrial respiration and respiratory chain enzyme function by using an MT knockout (MTKO) mouse model, which was treated with the irreversible complex I inhibiting reagent, rotenone. The aim was achieved by implementing three objectives: firstly, the RC function was investigated as a complete working unit; secondly, the functional and structural properties of single units (enzymes) of the RC were investigated utilising enzyme activity assays and BN- PAGE/western blot analysis; and thirdly, the possible effect of MTs on mtDNA copy number was investigated. While some tendencies of variation in RC enzyme activity and expression were identified, no significant effect on the overall mitochondrial respiratory function, or any significant differences in the relative mtDNA copy number of MTKO mice were observed. Thus it is concluded, while MTs have in this study revealed relatively small changes in respiratory chain function, which may still prove to have biological ignificance in vivo, the exact nature of the putative role of MTs in mitochondrial respiration or oxidative phosphorylation remains undefined. / Thesis (MSc (Biochemistry))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.