People with Barth syndrome have a mutation in the TAZ gene,…
People with Barth syndrome have a mutation in the TAZ gene, which encodes the tafazzin protein. Mutated tafazzin disrupts the mitochondrial membrane and, subsequently, the electron transport chain in the membrane. Tafazzin mutations affect ATP production in Barth cells. Surprisingly, Barth cells still produce the same amount of ATP as normal cells. In order to compensate for tafazzin mutations that affect the efficiency of cellular ATP production, Barth cells have increased mitochondria and mitochondrial mass. Cells with mutated mitochondria may be less able to respond to stressors, leaving the cells vulnerable. Consider a person with Barth syndrome that has a TAZ mutation that causes a 60% reduction in ATP production. If a normal cell has 100 mitochondria, how many mitochondria would you expect in a Barth cell, assuming that ATP production increases proportionally with the number of mitochondria? If necessary, round to the nearest whole number. Use a number, not a word to answer. There would be mitochondria