Mitochondria are subcellular organelles evolved by the endosymbiosis of bacteria with eukaryotic cells. They are the main source of ATP in the cell and engaged in other aspects of cell metabolism and cell function, including the regulation of ion homeostasis, cell growth, redox status, and cell signaling. Due to their central role in cell life and death, mitochondria are also involved in the pathogenesis and progression of human diseases/conditions, including neurodegenerative and cardiovascular disorders, cancer, diabetes, inflammation, and aging. However, despite the increasing number of studies, precise mechanisms whereby mitochondria are involved in the regulation of basic physiological functions, as well as their role in the cell under pathophysiological conditions, remain unknown. A lack of in-depth knowledge of the regulatory mechanisms of mitochondrial metabolism and function, as well as interplay between the factors that transform the organelle from its role in pro-survival to pro-death, have hindered the development of new mitochondria-targeted pharmacological and conditional approaches for the treatment of human diseases. This book highlights the latest achievements in elucidating the role of mitochondria under physiological conditions, in various cell/animal models of human diseases, and in patients.

Methods in Toxicology, Volume 2: Mitochondrial Dysfunction provides a source of methods, techniques, and experimental approaches for studying the role of abnormal mitochondrial function in cell injury. The book discusses the methods for the preparation and basic functional assessment of mitochondria from liver, kidney, muscle, and brain; the methods for assessing mitochondrial dysfunction in vivo and in intact organs; and the structural aspects of mitochondrial dysfunction are addressed. The text also describes chemical detoxification and metabolism as well as specific metabolic reactions that are especially important targets or indicators of damage. The methods for measurement of alterations in fatty acid and phospholipid metabolism and for the analysis and manipulation of oxidative injury and antioxidant systems are also considered. The book further tackles additional methods on mitochondrial energetics and transport processes; approaches for assessing impaired function of mitochondria; and genetic and developmental aspects of mitochondrial disease and toxicology. The text also looks into mitochondrial DNA synthesis, covalent binding to mitochondrial DNA, DNA repair, and mitochondrial dysfunction in the context of developing individuals and cellular differentiation. Microbiologists, toxicologists, biochemists, and molecular pharmacologists will find the book invaluable.

Mitochondria and Longevity, Volume 340, the latest release in the International Review of Cell and Molecular Biology series reviews and details current advances in cell and molecular biology. The IRCMB series has a worldwide readership, maintaining a high standard by publishing invited articles on important and timely topics with this release focusing on topics such as Mitochondria metabolism and aging, Mitohormesis, Mitochondrial dynamics in the aging stem cell compartment, Mitochondrial proteostasis and aging, Mitochondrial DNA mutations and aging, Mitochondrial sirtuins, NAD+, NADH and aging, Mitophagy and aging, Mitochondria, calcium transport and aging.

This volume examines the role of mitochondria in different types of cell death, including apoptotic and necrotic cell deaths. Topics discussed include mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP) and the permeability transition pore; core processes such as calcium handling, fission and fusion, reactive oxygen species generation, and maintenance of mitochondrial DNA fidelity and protein folding homeostasis; and retrograde signaling between mitochondria and other cellular components, including the important role of mitochondria in antiviral immunity. The expertly authored chapters are drawn from multidisciplinary international perspectives, lending a nuanced and comprehensive approach to the material. Mitochondria and Cell Death, part of the Cell Death in Biology and Diseases series, is invaluable reading for graduate students, researchers, and clinicians in the fields of neuroscience, oncology, gastroenterology, and hepatology, as well as those interested in the study of mitochondria and cell biology.

This interactive clinical textbook takes a system- and case-based approach in understanding mitochondrial disorders in clinical practice.

Bioenergetics 2 aims to clarify topics such as the thermodynamics of bioenergetic processes and the stoichiometries of energy coupling reactions. The book discusses chemiosmotic energy transduction; ion transport across energy-conserving membranes; and quantitative bioenergenetics as the measurement of driving forces. The text also describes the chemiosmotic proton circuit; the respiratory chain; the photosynthetic generators of protonmotive force; and the ATP synthase. The secondary transport of products across the membrane, as well as the structures of the bacterial photosynthetic reaction center and bacteriorhodopsin are also considered. Biochemists will find the book invaluable.

This volume investigates how the mitochondrial genome is transmitted, segregated, and inherited. It starts by describing mtDNA mutations and deletions and how these impact on the offspring’s well-being. It progresses to discuss how mutations to the mtDNA-nuclear-encoded transcription, replication and translational factors lead to mtDNA-depletion syndromes and how these affect cellular function and lead to the pathology of human mitochondrial disease. It also highlights the importance of the mitochondrial assembly factors and how mutations to these can lead to mitochondrial disease. The reader is then introduced to how mtDNA is transmitted through the oocyte and how stem cells can be used to study mitochondrial biogenesis and mtDNA replication and transcription in undifferentiated pluripotent and differentiating cells and how mitochondria adapt during this process. It then discusses how diseases like cancer are initiated and regulated by mutations to mitochondrial DNA and dysfunctional mitochondria. Finally, it draws on assisted reproductive technologies to discuss how some of these approaches might be adapted to prevent the transmission of mutant and deleted mtDNA from one generation to the next.

The book addresses controversies related to the origins of cancer and provides solutions to cancer management and prevention. It expands upon Otto Warburg's well-known theory that all cancer is a disease of energy metabolism. However, Warburg did not link his theory to the "hallmarks of cancer" and thus his theory was discredited. This book aims to provide evidence, through case studies, that cancer is primarily a metabolic disease requring metabolic solutions for its management and prevention. Support for this position is derived from critical assessment of current cancer theories. Brain cancer case studies are presented as a proof of principle for metabolic solutions to disease management, but similarities are drawn to other types of cancer, including breast and colon, due to the same cellular mutations that they demonstrate.