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Contact and competition between mitochondria and microbes

Tânia C Medeiros1, Chahat Mehra1, Lena Pernas2

  • 1Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, 50931, Cologne, Germany.

Current Opinion in Microbiology
|August 19, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Host mitochondria are crucial for cellular energy and immunity. This review explores how these organelles physically and metabolically interact with invading pathogens, offering new insights into infection biology.

Area of Science:

  • Cellular biology
  • Microbiology
  • Immunology

Background:

  • Intracellular microbes compete with host cells for essential nutrients.
  • Host mitochondria play a vital role in cellular metabolism and immune responses to infection.
  • The interactions between mitochondria and intracellular pathogens remain poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To provide an overview of the physical and metabolic interactions between mitochondria and eukaryotic pathogens.
  • To highlight the importance of understanding these interactions for infection biology.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of reported interactions between mitochondria and eukaryotic pathogens.

Main Results:

  • Mitochondria engage in diverse physical and metabolic interactions with intracellular pathogens.
  • These interactions influence host-pathogen dynamics and disease pathogenesis.

Conclusions:

  • Understanding the molecular mechanisms of mitochondrial-pathogen interactions is crucial for novel discoveries in infection biology.
  • Further research into these interactions can reveal new therapeutic targets.

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