Recent experiments and thermodynamic arguments suggest that mitochondrial temperatures are higher than those of the cytoplasm. A "hot mitochondrion" calls for a closer examination of the energy balance that endows it with these claimed elevated temperatures. As a first step in this effort, we present here a semi-quantitative bookkeeping whereby, in one stroke, a formula is proposed that yields the rate of heat production in a typical mitochondrion and a formula for estimating the number of active ATP synthase molecules per mitochondrion. Scaling laws are shown to determine the number of active ATP synthase molecules in a mitochondrion and mitochondrial rate of heat production. Mitochondrial population of active ATP synthases and mitochondrial rate of heat production appear, both, to scale with cell volume. Four heterotrophic protozoa cell types are considered in this study. The studied cells, selected to cover a wide range of sizes (volumes) from ca. 100 μm3 to 1 million μm3, are estimated to exhibit a power per mitochondrion ranging from ca. 1 pW to 0.03 pW. The corresponding number of active ATP synthases per mitochondrion in these cells ranges from 5,000 to just about a hundred.

中文翻译：

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关于每个线粒体功率和相关的活性ATP合酶数量的注释。

最近的实验和热力学论据表明线粒体温度高于细胞质。“热线粒体”要求仔细检查能量平衡，使之具有这些声称的高温。作为这项工作的第一步，我们在这里介绍一种半定量簿记，据此，在一个笔划中，提出了一个公式，该公式可得出典型线粒体中的产热量，并提供了一个公式，用于估算每个线粒体中活性ATP合酶分子的数量。线粒体。结果表明，定标定律可以确定线粒体内活性ATP合酶分子的数量以及线粒体的产热率。活性ATP合酶的线粒体种群和线粒体的产热率均随细胞体积的增加而变化。在这项研究中考虑了四种异养原生动物细胞类型。所研究的细胞从ca到涵盖了广泛的大小（体积）。估计100μm3到1百万μm3的线粒体功率大约在200到100万之间。1 pW至0.03 pW。这些细胞中每个线粒体的活性ATP合成酶的相应数量在5,000到大约一百之间。