Determination of the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP)

Rhodamine 123 is a fluorescent cationic dye that binds to polarized mitochondrial membrane and accumulates as aggregates in the mitochondria of normal cells. ARPE‐19 cells were cultured in the absence or presence of MGO for 6 h, and then incubated with 1 μM rhodamine 123 for 30 min. The cells were then centrifuged and resuspended in PBS. Changes in the MMP were detected by flow cytometry (Cytomics FC500; Beckman‐Coulter).