Mitochondria take center stage

Mitochondria are the ubiquitous power units of animal cells, responsible for “oxphos,” the aerobic synthesis of most of the ATP that serves as the common coin of cellular metabolism. To perform their primary task of oxidative phosphorylation and to manage many secondary tasks, mitochondria use more than 1,000 proteins, of which fewer than 100 are involved directly in oxidative phosphorylation. The “secondary” tasks mitochondria perform include their own maintenance, calcium regulation and signaling, lipid synthesis, and acting as gatekeepers for programmed cell death. Catalyzed by the advances in knowledge and technology that underlie great progress in all areas of cell biology, mitochondrial physiology has been undergoing a renaissance. In this special issue of the Journal we highlight some examples of this renaissance, offering a series of Perspectives on Mitochondria. The purpose of the Perspectives in General Physiology is to provide a forum where scientific uncertainties or controversies are discussed in an authoritative, yet open manner. This series had its origin in the 65th Annual Symposium of the Society of General Physiologists on “Mitochondrial Physiology and Medicine,” which took place in September 2011 in Woods Hole, MA. The meeting was organized by SheyShing Sheu (Thomas Jefferson University) along with a committee comprising leaders in mitochondrial research, including Robert Balaban (NHLBI), Paolo Bernardi (University of Padova), Robert Dirksen (University of Rochester), Roberta Gottlieb (San Diego State University), Gyorgy Hajnóczky (Thomas Jefferson University), and Brian O’Rourke (Johns Hopkins University). A summary of the meeting was recently published (Sheu et al., 2011).