Energy homeostasis and partitioning in living cells

Cells consume energy to maintain activities and proliferate. A major source of energy is mitochondria, an organelle that supplies ATP for the cell. ATP is the universal energy currency of living organisms. ATP is produced through mitochondrial respiration, a metabolic process that generates ATP by consuming nutrients and oxygen. Oxygen consumption rate (OCR) of the mitochondria hence represents the metabolic activities of the cell. A key question in biology is how cells control OCR and partition ATP to power various cellular processes, including cell division, motility, biosynthesis and information procession. In this talk, I will introduce state-of-the-art techniques to measure OCR with single-cell resolution and a non-equilibrium thermodynamic model to explain energy homeostasis and partitioning in cells.