Optimal isolation of mitochondria for proteomic analyses

Considering the key role of mitochondria in cellular (dys)functions, we compared a standard isolation protocol, followed by lysis in urea/detergent buffer, with a commercially available isolation buffer that rapidly yields a mitochondrial protein fraction. The standard protocol yielded significantly better overall resolution and coverage of both the soluble and membrane mitochondrial proteomes; although the kit was faster, it resulted in recovery of only approximately 56% of the detectable proteome. The quality of “omic” analysis depends on sample handling; for large-scale protein studies, well-resolved proteomes are highly dependent on the purity of starting material and the rigor of the extraction protocol.