This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Michelakis, E. D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Michelakis, E. D. Related Collections Clinical genetics Apoptosis Energy metabolism Pulmonary biology and circulation Epidemiology Oxidant stress Other Vascular biology

(Circulation. 2008;117:2431-2434.)
© 2008 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorial

Mitochondrial Medicine

A New Era in Medicine Opens New Windows and Brings New Challenges

Evangelos D. Michelakis, MD

From the Cardiology Division, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.

Correspondence to Evangelos D. Michelakis, MD, Cardiology Division, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, 2C2.36 Walter Mackenzie Health Sciences Centre, 8440 112th St, Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2B7, Canada.

Key Words: Editorials • apoptosis • atherosclerosis • cardiovascular diseases • genetics • metabolism

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

	Introduction

 

Socrates: ... And he who is most skilled in preventing or escaping from a disease is best able to create one?

Polemarchus: True

Socrates: And is he the best guard of a camp who is best able to steal a march upon the enemy?

Polemarchus: Certainly

Socrates: Then he who is a good keeper of everything is also a good thief?

Polemarchus: That I suppose is to be inferred

— —Plato, The Republic

Reading Plato one might not be surprised by the apparent paradox in the ability of mitochondria to promote both life and death: On the one hand, they are the major producers of energy in the cell, and on the other hand, they can steal the life of their host "at will." Mitochondria can sense the supply of fuel (they are important O₂ sensors) and via the production of mediators (reactive O₂ species [ROS]), communicate with critical effectors in the cell (like redox-sensitive ion channels in the membrane or the nucleus).¹ In response to the needs of the cell, mitochondria produce both energy (ie, ATP) and heat, allowing the organism to work and keep a stable core temperature, facilitating optimal adaptation of eukaryotic cells to their environment. If the mitochondria cannot provide optimal adaptation to the metabolic needs and the environment, they have the ability to induce cell death (apoptosis). As strategic regulators of life and death, mitochondria are deeply involved in human disease, but the depth and breadth of mitochondria-based diseases is only now starting to be . . . [Full Text of this Article]