About This Special Issue
Mitochondria play a central role in energy metabolism. It is now well established that functional mitochondria are important in the regulation of several essential cellular metabolic pathways, apoptosis, signal transduction and cell growth. It is of particular importance in the high energy requiring tissues such as brain, heart and muscle. Mitochondrial defects have been implicated in a wide range of clinical conditions such as cancer, neuro-degeneration, obesity, diabetes, ageing and age associated disorders including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and loss of muscle mass. Since mitochondrial DNA is maternally inherited, mutations in the mitochondrial DNA have also been linked to rare childhood diseases and metabolic syndromes. In recent years tremendous progress has been made in deciphering novel mechanisms of mitochondria in cellular signaling. Rerouting of metabolites in mitochondrial TCA cycle provides alternative ways to generate building blocks such as nucleotides and amino acids for cellular growth and proliferation. Damaged mitochondria are removed through autophagy or functional mitochondria are maintained through enhancing mitochondrial biogenesis. Mitochondrial fission and fusion mechanisms are providing new insights into mitochondrial quality control. In this special issue we will highlight functional aspects of mitochondria in maintaining cellular homeostasis and also the consequences of mitochondrial defects that contributes in disease progression.