Peroxisomes of higher eukaryotes, glycosomes of kinetoplastids, & glyoxysomes of plants are related microbody organelles that perform differing metabolic functions tailored to their cellular environments. The close evolutionary relationship of these organelles is most clearly evidenced by the conservation of proteins involved in matrix protein import and biogenesis.
glycosome can be viewed as an offshoot of the peroxisomal lineage with additional metabolic functions, specifically glycolysi - [Read Biogenesis and Function of Peroxisomes and Glycosomes]
Generally in iodixanol gradients the density of organelles decreases in the series: peroxisomes, mitochondria, lysosomes, ER, Golgi, although in Dictyostelium discoideum, the lysosomes are denser than the mitochondria. Iodixanol gradients can usually provide satisfactory resolution of all these membrane particles although it may be necessary to modulate either the gradient or centrifugation parameters in order to optimize a particular separation. - [Read Fractionation of Mitochondria, Lysosomes, Peroxisomes, ER and Golgi in Pre-formed Iodixanol Gradient]
To isolate peroxisomes from Saccharomyces cerevisiae of a quality sufficient for in vitro import studies, we
optimized the conditions for cell growth and for cell fractionation. Stability of the isolated peroxisomes was
monitored by catalase latency and sedimentability of marker enzymes. - [Read Peroxisomes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae]
This protocol uses a "light mitochondrial" pellet from a mammalian liver homogenate. The gradient thus has to resolve a variety of denser components (peroxisomes, lysosomes, mitochondria) from the Golgi membranes, which have a low density in iodixanol (1.06-1.09 g/ml) [1]. The protocol is
specifically tailored to the purification of Golgi membranes from this pellet and is unsuitable for the isolation or analysis of other organelles present in the light mitochondrial fraction. - [Read Purification of Golgi Membranes from a Light Mitochondrial Fraction in a Self-Generated Gradient]
Peroxisomes can be purified in self-generated iodixanol gradients in high yield (80-90%) with no detectable contamination from any other organelle. In iodixanol peroxisomes are the densest of the major subcellular organelles (ρ = 1.18-1.20 g/ml) present in the light mitochondrial fraction from
mammalian tissues and cells. - [Read Purification of Peroxisomes in a Self-Generated Gradient]
Peroxisomes can be purified in iodixanol gradients in high yield (80-90%) with no detectable contamination from any other organelle. This is a property unique to iodixanol because the
densities of other organelles, particularly that of mitochondria (approx ρ = 1.14 g/ml) and endoplasmic reticulum (approx ρ = 1.13 g/ml) are much lower than that of peroxisomes (approx ρ = 1.18 g/ml). - [Read Purification of Peroxisomes using a Density Barrier in a Swinging-Bucket Rotor]