I am posting this for those of you who understand advanced biochemistry. I am not one of you.
Mitochondria are exceptionally susceptible to mercury toxicity for two very obvious reasons if you are trained in biochemistry.
First, the mitochondrial located pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDH) that receives pyruvate from glycolysis (in the cell cytosol) requires lipoic acid as a cofactor. Lipoic acid has two closely placed thiol groups that reduce-oxidize-reduce in a cyclic manner as the pyruvate is converted acetyl-CoA then used to produce citrate in the mitochondrial located citric acid cycle. Lipoic acid is an excellent chelator of Hg2+, but this totally blocks PDH and prevents activity of the citric acid cycle. This inhibits the production of NADH and FADH2 which feed into the electron transport system that makes the pH gradient that is used to make ATP (the high energy compound that is used to synthesis protein, DNA, RNA, glutathione etc.). You get the picture--inhibiting this initial enzyme, PDH, causes a lot of down stream problems. Lack of ATP prevents many biochemical systems from working, including the synthesis of glutathione (which autistic children are low in) that make them susceptible to many other toxins since glutathione needs to be attached to many to have them excreted by the body.
Second, the electron transport system in the mitochondria is rich with iron-sulfur clusters that aid in the transport of electrons and the production of the pH gradient that is needed to make ATP. Mercury would potently inhibit this system due to its attraction to such sulfur complexes.
Conclusion, the young girl in the latest autism story may or may not have had a mitochondrial disorder before receiving her thimerosal containing shots. This would have to be proven by a genetic testing. However, she, nor anyone else getting high doses of thimerosal at an early age, would necessarily have to have an underlying mitochondrial disorder to have a negative reaction to thimerosal exposure. Thimerosal exposure at a young age could definitely be the cause of the mitochondrial problems she had subsequent to the vaccines.