Mitochondria in Health and Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

Mitochondria are the “power plants” of cells due to their ability to generate ATP. In addition, mitochondria play an important role in other aspects of cell metabolism and function, including ion homeostasis, cell growth, redox signaling, and cell survival. The structural and functional integrity of mitochondria is maintained by mitochondrial quality control through mitochondrial biogenesis (turnover), dynamics (fission and fusion), and selective mitophagy. Notably, the structural organization and dynamics of mitochondria vary greatly between organ and tissues to meet tissue-specific cellular needs. Mitochondria are also involved in the pathogenesis and progression of numerous human diseases including, among others, cancer, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, traumatic injury, and inflammation. Mitochondrial involvement in these diseases has been attributed to the central role the organelle plays in the sequelae of events that culminate in cell death through various mechanisms such as apoptosis, necrosis, and autophagy. More recently, it has been shown that also ferroptosis is associated with atypical mitochondrial morphology. Despite the intense focus on the role of mitochondria, the precise niche the organelle play in cell life and death remains unknown. Lack of in-depth knowledge of the regulatory mechanisms of mitochondrial metabolism and the function and interplay between the factors that transform the organelle from cell preservation to cell death compromise the development of new mitochondria-targeted approaches to treat human diseases.

This Special Issue of Cells is designed to highlight all aspects of mitochondrial metabolism and to function under physiological and pathological conditions. We will consider high-quality articles on mitochondrial biology as well as on the role of mitochondria in disease and aging. The Special Issue welcomes studies in the field of mitochondrial research using various cell and animal models, human diseases, and computational modeling. We also welcome studies that describe the application/adaptation of new methodologies and approaches in mitochondrial research.

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cells is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Apoptosis
• autophagy
• Barth syndrome
• cardiolipin
• cellular stress responses
• ER-mitochondria interactions
• Huntington disease
• mitochondria
• mitochondria associated membranes
• mitochondrial biogenesis
• mitochondrial metabolism
• mitochondrial replication
• mitochondrial gene expression
• mitochondrial cell death
• mitochondrial ion channels/exchangers
• mitochondrial signaling
• mitochondrial membrane transporters
• mitochondrial respiration
• mitochondrial permeability transition
• mitochondrial protein synthesis
• mitochondrial ROS
• mitochondria-targeted therapy
• mitochondrial sirtuins
• mitochondrial supercomplexes
• mitophagy
• necrosis
• OXPHOS
• TCA