Quantitative study of mitochondria in rat liver. Dry mass, wet mass, volume, and concentration of solids.

The dry mass, wet mass, and volume of mitochondria of normal rat liver were determined, as well as nitrogen content and concentration. A scheme of multiple approaches to these quantities was devised, permitting comparison of values obtained by independent methods. The following basic values are considered highly accurate: Mean dry mass, 13.6 x 10(-14) g; mean wet mass, 51.8 x 10(-14) g; mean volume, 0.43 micro(3); nitrogen content, 1.75 x 10(-14) g The work emphasizes the fact that in mitochondria the quantities, mass, and volume occur in logarithmic-normal distributions.