EditorialMitochondrial Structure, Function, and Dynamics: The CommonThread across Organs, Disease, and Aging

Moh H. Malek ,1,2,3 Maik Hüttemann ,3,4 and Icksoo Lee5

1Physical Therapy Program, Department of Health Care Sciences, Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy &Health Sciences, WayneState University, Detroit, MI 48201, USA2Integrative Physiology of Exercise Laboratory, Department of Health Care Sciences, Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy &Health Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48201, USA3Cardiovascular Research Institute, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48201, USA4Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48201, USA5College of Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan-si, Chungcheongnam-do 31116, Republic of Korea

Correspondence should be addressed to Moh H. Malek; en7488@wayne.edu

Received 16 November 2017; Accepted 16 November 2017; Published 8 February 2018

Copyright © 2018 Moh H. Malek et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Mitochondria are central to all basic and advanced cellularand organismal functions. In addition to the vast majorityof cellular energy generated by these unique organelles, theyare also essential signaling hubs and communicate withthe rest of the cell through various means including reactiveoxygen species. Their dysfunction is implicated in nearlyall common diseases ranging from neuromuscular to diabe-tes to cancer. In this special issue, “Mitochondrial Structure,Function, and Dynamics: The Common Thread acrossOrgans, Disease, and Aging”, we wanted to provide the read-ership of Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity with avariety of examples of how mitochondria function and howdifferent adverse conditions result in their dysfunction. Thearticles in this special issue can be categorized into examiningmitochondria related to topics such as Alzheimer’s, cancercachexia, diabetes and wound healing, and sepsis.

In the current issue, several articles focus on the roleof mitochondria in the brain. For example, P. Martín-Maestro and colleagues report a downregulation of genesinvolved in mitochondrial dynamics in patients diagnosedwith Alzheimer’s, whereas D. J. Tyrrell et al. examinedblood-based bioenergetic profiles as potential biomarkersfor changes in brain metabolism. D. F. Bebensee and col-leagues used a transgenic murine model (Mecp2 null) toexamine oxidative stress in the hippocampus region, and

the potential clinical application of their findings residesin understanding a neurodevelopmental disorder calledRett syndrome. In addition, the article by K. K. Griffithsand R. J. Levy provides an excellent review on the role ofmitochondrial dysfunction in autism. Taken together, thesestudies provide valuable insight into the role of mitochondriafunction in the brain.

Another tissue in which mitochondria play a critical rolein bioenergetics is skeletal muscle, which comprises 50% ofan individual’s total body mass. Skeletal muscle is dynamicand, therefore, responds to positive stimuli such as exerciseas well as negative stimuli such as aging. In this special issue,three articles are presented that provide further insight intothe role of mitochondria in skeletal muscle. R. G. Feichtingerand colleagues present a case study of a child who sufferedfrom respiratory distress syndrome soon after birth andneeded to be placed on mechanical ventilation. In addition,this patient required surfactant replacement therapy. Thisreport discusses UQCC2mutation in neonatal encephalomy-opathy with particular focus on complex III. In addition tothis case report, two review articles are presented from theHood and Carson laboratories on the “Impact of Aging andExercise on Mitochondrial Quality Control in Skeletal Mus-cle” and “Disrupted Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial Dynam-ics, Mitophagy, and Biogenesis during Cancer Cachexia: A

HindawiOxidative Medicine and Cellular LongevityVolume 2018, Article ID 1863414, 2 pageshttps://doi.org/10.1155/2018/1863414

Role for Inflammation”, respectively. These articles presenttwo different scenarios (aging/exercise and cancer cachexia)and how skeletal muscle responds to these stimuli and thepotential impact on mitochondrial structure and function.

Another area of research that is presented is the effectof cancer on various tissues and its role on mitochondrialfunction. The report by A. Koit and colleagues shows thatthere are differences between mitochondrial respiration aswell as membrane permeability in breast cancer patientsrelative to patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Theinvestigators use a combination of human tissue samples aswell as cell culture models to distinguish differences in mito-chondrial responses. In another article by R. G. Feichtingerand colleagues, the investigators explore OXPHOS com-plexes in two main types of gastric cancer.

Mitochondrial-targeted ROS scavengers have gainedmajor interest in the scientific community as they go, thatis, localize, to the heart of the problem, the mitochondria.Compounds, such as MitoQ, MitoTEMPO, and SKQ1, com-bine the ROS scavenger with the positively charged tri-phenylphosphonium moiety, which targets the compoundsto the negatively charged inside of the mitochondria result-ing in several orders of magnitude of enrichment. As such,P. Rademann and colleagues used a rodent model of sepsisto determine the effect of SkQ1 and MitoTEMPO on atten-uating inflammatory responses, which did not improve ani-mal survival and even decreased survival rates for SKQ1. Ilyaand colleagues, however, used SkQ1 in a murine model ofdiabetes, to determine whether or not it would improvedermal wound healing. The authors reported severalbeneficial effects including reduced lipid peroxidation,increased α-smooth muscle actin-positive cells and woundclosure. In conclusion, although the therapeutic benefit ofmitochondrial-targeted ROS scavengers has been convinc-ingly demonstrated for a range of acute and chronic diseaseconditions involving mitochondrial ROS, they may not con-sidered a universal treatment modality with certain excep-tions such as acute inflammatory signaling as seen in sepsis.

To provide more insight into the role of mitochondrialfunction, we provide an extensive review of cytochrome coxidase subunits from function to human disease. S. Tanand E. Wong also present a review on the role and efficiencyof polyphenols on mitochondrial quality control. In addition,J. D. A. Losano et al. examined the metabolic pathways inepididymal bovine sperm, whereas W. Yan and colleaguesexamine the interaction between testosterone and oxidativedamage in orchiectomized rats.

In conclusion, all the articles presented in this specialissue highlight the importance of proper mitochondrialfunction for healthy organ and organism performance,whereas mitochondrial dysfunction, triggered by a varietyof causes ranging from specific mutations to aging as thearguably ultimate mitochondrial disease, takes center stagein an ever-increasing number of pathologies including allcommon diseases.

Moh H. MalekMaik Hüttemann

Icksoo Lee

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