Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
2038665 Cell 2006 12 Pages PDF
Abstract

Mitochondria are the primary energy-generating system in most eukaryotic cells. Additionally, they participate in intermediary metabolism, calcium signaling, and apoptosis. Given these well-established functions, it might be expected that mitochondrial dysfunction would give rise to a simple and predictable set of defects in all tissues. However, mitochondrial dysfunction has pleiotropic effects in multicellular organisms. Clearly, much about the basic biology of mitochondria remains to be understood. Here we discuss recent work that suggests that the dynamics (fusion and fission) of these organelles is important in development and disease.

Related Topics
Life Sciences Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (General)
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