ArticlePLoS biology2018
Mitochondria are physiologically maintained at close to 50 °C.
Article in PLoS biology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 187 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
187 citing papers in PubMed, 427 citations in OpenAlex.
- Breast milk alkylglycerols sustain beige adipocytes through adipose tissue macrophages.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2019Trial
- Citius, Maius, Melius: Mitochondria and Endurance Performance.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Review
- Dissipation of the mitochondrial proton motive force drives sepsis pathogenesis and explains hyperlactatemia's predictive value in sepsis mortality.World journal of critical care medicine · 2026Review
- Article
- A Function-Centric Framework for Mitochondrial Quality Control.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- Identification of a human mitochondrial isoform of TRPV1: a thermostat regulating mitochondrial maximal temperature?Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2026Article
- ALR couples IMS redox and heme biosynthesis beyond the disulfide relay.Science advances · 2026Article
- Decoding the Hot-Mitochondrion Paradox.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Photobiomodulation in Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Mitochondrial Bioenergetic Framework and Translational Perspective.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Transient Plasmonic Photothermal Imaging Deciphers Dynamic Thermal Transfer during the Cell Cycle.Chemical & biomedical imaging · 2026Article
- Preexisting IgG forms immune complexes and links local thermal reactogenicity with immunogenicity in influenza vaccination.NPJ vaccines · 2026Article
- Cryptic DNA sequences encode a temperature sensor to regulate mitochondrial suicide during neuronal differentiation.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2026Article
- Re-Evaluating Hot Mitochondria: Too Slow to Cool.Acta physiologica (Oxford, England) · 2026Review
- Hot Mitochondria and the Second Law of Thermodynamics.Research square · 2026Article
- Single-Cell Hyperthermia: Diamond Quantum Thermometry Reveals Thermal Control of Macrophage Polarization.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2026Article
- Rethinking Human Energy Metabolism.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Review
- Mycoponics: Controlled Bioproduction Utilizing Biophysical, Solid-State, Liquid Nutrient Delivery.Biotechnology journal · 2026Article
- TRPM8 Regulates Mitochondrial CaJournal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2026Article
- Extracellular Vesicles, Nutrient Balance, and Redox Metabolism During Epididymal Sperm Maturation: A Perspective on the Complexity of Intercellular Interplay.Advances in anatomy, embryology, and cell biology · 2026Review
- Lessons in longevity from blood stem cells under protein stress.Trends in cell biology · 2026Review
127 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 7 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In endothermic species, heat released as a product of metabolism ensures stable internal temperature throughout the organism, despite varying environmental conditions. Mitochondria are major actors in this thermogenic process. Part of the energy released by the oxidation of respiratory substrates drives ATP synthesis and metabolite transport, but a substantial proportion is released as heat. Using a temperature-sensitive fluorescent probe targeted to mitochondria, we measured mitochondrial temperature in situ under different physiological conditions. At a constant external temperature of 38 °C, mitochondria were more than 10 °C warmer when the respiratory chain (RC) was fully functional, both in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells and primary skin fibroblasts. This differential was abolished in cells depleted of mitochondrial DNA or treated with respiratory inhibitors but preserved or enhanced by expressing thermogenic enzymes, such as the alternative oxidase or the uncoupling protein 1. The activity of various RC enzymes was maximal at or slightly above 50 °C. In view of their potential consequences, these observations need to be further validated and explored by independent methods. Our study prompts a critical re-examination of the literature on mitochondria.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.