Mitochondrial Health in Aging and Age-Related Metabolic Disease
1Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain
2Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), Madrid, Spain
3Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Japan
Mitochondrial Health in Aging and Age-Related Metabolic Disease
Description
Historically, mitochondria have been exclusively considered as the centers for energy production in the cell. However, besides respiration and production of ATP, mitochondria are central regulators of many other cellular functions, such as apoptosis, autophagy, and Ca2+ homeostasis. Therefore, alterations in mitochondrial biology and function have a major impact on pathology and disease. A hallmark of aging is the presence of a decline in mitochondrial function, associated to a reduced number and morphological alterations of mitochondria, reduction in mitochondrial respiration, and increased oxidative stress. However, there is still debate about whether mitochondrial dysfunction could be driving some of the age-related alterations or, on the contrary, age-associated mitochondrial dysfunction might be secondary to aging itself. In the last years, some of the mechanisms involved in mitochondrial quality control have been described, but whether alterations in them could contribute to the loss of mitochondrial health observed during aging and age-related alterations is still under investigation.
We invite investigators to contribute original research articles as well as review articles aimed to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for the loss of mitochondrial health and their connection with aging and age-related pathologies, with particular emphasis age-related metabolic disease.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Mitochondrial quality control
- Mitochondrial energy metabolism
- Mitochondrial dynamics
- Mitophagy
- Alterations in signaling pathways connecting mitochondria and nutrient sensing
- Mitochondrial oxidative stress and antioxidants
- Alterations in mitochondrial structure/morphology in aging
- Mitochondrial calcium homeostasis