Molecular Cell

Editorial

The Mighty Mitochondria

Mitochondria are mysterious, marvelous little structures. Despite their long evolutionary history before being co-opted as eukaryotic
organelles, these endosymbionts have become entrenched in eukaryotic cell function. Originally thought to be merely the ‘‘power-
house of the cell’’ (as if that were not enough), interest in these organelles resurged after they were implicated in a variety of cellular
functions and pathobiologies including cell signaling, metabolism, cell death, aging, and cancer. In two coordinated Special Issues,
Molecular Cell and Trends in Biochemical Sciences celebrate the uniqueness of mitochondria and also highlight ways in which mito-
chondria integrate within the broader cell. You can find these Special Issues, and more mitochondria-related content, at http://www.
cell.com/molecular-cell/home and http://www.cell.com/trends/biochemical-sciences/home.
In addition to reading our many Review articles, we hope that you take a moment to look at the Molecular Cell Mitochondria Time-
line, where we, with the help of our readers, feature seminal discoveries that have driven the mitochondria field into new and exciting
territories. Many of these discoveries have stood the test of time. For example, 2016 marks the 20th anniversary of the discovery of the
apoptotic activity of mitochondrial cytochrome c. Since that finding, there has been continued interest in how mitochondria control
cell survival, and we present several reviews that explore recent work on this topic.
In addition to their roles in cell survival decisions, we now know that mitochondria play important roles in pathological contexts.
Although it has been over 60 years since Otto Warburg proposed that pyruvate oxidation in the mitochondria takes a backseat to
glycolysis in cancer cells, recent progress in our understanding of how cancer rewires metabolism has made metabolism (once again)
one of the most exciting areas of biochemistry. Given the central role of mitochondria in metabolism, there has been renewed interest
in how mitochondria impact metabolic pathways and pathologies, with the involved molecules and mechanisms being laser-
dissected. We present multiple articles in both Molecular Cell and Trends in Biochemical Sciences that focus on metabolism and
mitochondria, particularly in the context of diseases such as cancer and aging.
One reason that mitochondria can have such amazing and diverse functions in the cell is because they have biochemical features
that are distinct from the broader cell. Recent technical advances, from computation to imaging, have made it possible to ask new
questions about the unique composition and structure of mitochondria. For example, new proteomic and genetic techniques have
been used to gain insights into the mitochondrial proteome and its modification landscape, which is explored in several articles in this
issue of Trends in Biochemical Sciences. In addition, new imaging and structural techniques have provided insights into mitochon-
drial shape, how shape is regulated, and how shape is linked to mitochondrial function, which is touched on in Reviews in both
Molecular Cell and Trends in Biochemical Sciences.
As scientists continue to uncover new and exciting functions for these organelles, we anticipate that the Mitochondria Timeline will
expand, and we will see more and more mitochondria articles in Trends in Biochemical Sciences and Molecular Cell in the future. We
send a heartfelt thanks to all of the distinguished experts who contributed their time and effort as authors and reviewers to create such
a timely and thought-provoking pair of issues. We hope that you like the articles and that you learn something new. We hope that
these articles prompt you to ask questions that you might not have asked. Maybe your next discovery will make it onto the next Mito-
chondria Timeline!

Allyson Evans
Senior Editor, Molecular Cell
Nicole Neuman
Editor, Trends in Biochemical Sciences
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2016.02.002

Also printed in Trends in Biochemical Sciences 41, March 3, 2016, with permission. ª2016 Elsevier Inc. 641