Structure and Function of the Mitochondrial Cristael Membrane

Until a few yean; ago the conceptual framework in the field of mitochondrial structure and function played a rela-tively minor role in determining the direction and in shaping the design of experimentation. In the phase of de-scribing phenomena, the conceptual framewock is not crucial.]t is ooly when experimentation feaches the in-terpretative and exptanatory stages that permissiveness Of indifference with re-spect to the conceptual framework has consequences which inhibit progress. Within a relatively short time the entire conceptual framework for the study of the mitochondrion has been drastically altered. The concept of what is a membrane underlies tbe con· cept of what is a complex of the elec· tron transfer chain; the concept of discontinuous electron transfer is rooted in the concept of the electron transfer complexj the concept of the confonna. tional basis of mitochondrial energy transduction, in turn, rests on the foundation of a membrane continuum made up of nesting repeating units. This pyramiding of new concepts has created the need for a delineation of the conceptual framework within which current research on mitochondria is progressing. It is to the presentation of these concepts that the present com· munication is addressed. The Membrane For the past 30 years the Davson-Danielli model of cellular membrane