Mitochondria in Health and in Sickness

Besides bringing together researchers and clinicians from various disciplines to share their scope of research on the seminal role of mitochondria in human disease, this original volume of the book has a broader appeal by exploring the health and disease of mitochondria, with specific emphasis on how mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to the development of various neurodegeneration, cancer, and metabolic disorders. The book also provides a foundational overview of the mitochondrial pathogenic or genetic variants and highlights various analytical tools used in the field of mitochondrial genetics; mitochondrial replacement therapy and strategies geared towards shifting heteroplasmy in individuals with mitochondrial disease; how state-of-the-art omics technologies (proteomics, functional genomics) have been employed to study mitochondrial biology in healthy and disease states; post-translational modifications in the regulation of mitochondrial proteins; and the role of mitochondria in host-pathogen interactions.

Current approaches taken to study steady-state characteristics of mitochondrial structure and function in live mammalian cells in the contexts of normal and diseased states, and most recent research efforts to develop compounds with anti-cancer potential by targeting mitochondrial proteases or advances in therapeutic approaches towards mitochondrial disease were also explored. By covering this broad range of topics, our hope is to disseminate a wealth of knowledge on the critical role of mitochondria, and how to probe its function in health and in sickness.

Prof. Andrea Urbani has been involved in structural and functional investigation of integral membrane protein complexes of the respiratory chains since he moved in 1998 to Heidelberg (Germany) at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in the Structural Biology Program. Mass spectrometry characterisation and identification of proteins and metabolites represents the primary motive of the laboratories he has established during the last fifteen years. He is currently the Director of the Biochemistry and Clinical Biochemistry Institute of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, and President of the European Proteomics Association (EuPA) for the years 2015-2019. Prof. Mohan Babu is internationally recognized as an emerging leader in network biology, and a pioneer for mapping epistatic relationships and membrane-associated protein complexes in prokaryotes. His multidisciplinary research program focuses on characterizing protein and genetic interaction networks from microbes to mammals, and establishing new molecular mechanisms for mitochondrial proteins associated with neurodegenerative disorders. He is an editorial board member of the journal "BioEssays", editor of the book "Prokaryotic Systems Biology" (Springer), Associate editor of "BMC Microbiology", secretary treasurer for "Canadian Society of Microbiology", and an advisory board member of the "International Mitochondrial Human Proteome Initiative".