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REVIEW article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Mitochondrial Research
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1554877
This article is part of the Research Topic Mechanisms and Novel Therapeutic Targets and Approaches for Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Neurological and Cardiovascular Diseases View all 3 articles
Krüppel-like factors in mitochondrial quality control
Provisionally accepted- 1 Department of Nephrology, Tianjin Hospital of Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
- 2 Translational Medicine Research Center, Medical Innovation Research Division and the Fourth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
Krüppel-like factors (KLFs) are a group of transcription factors characterized by conserved zinc finger domains in the C-terminus, which are critically involved in basic cellular processes, including growth, differentiation, apoptosis, and angiogenesis, and play important roles in many pathophysiological responses. Mitochondrial homeostasis relies on a coordinated mitochondrial quality control system, which maintains the number and morphological stability and coordinates mitochondrial physiological functions through renewal and self-clearance. In this paper, we review the current advances of KLFs in mitochondrial quality control (MQC), including the potential roles and regulatory mechanisms in mitochondrial biogenesis, mitochondrial fusion/fission, mitophagy and mitochondrial unfolded protein response. We also introduce the specific pharmacological modulation of KLFs, expecting to transforming basic research achievements and providing the possibility of targeted therapy for KLFs.
Keywords: Krüppel-like factors, Mitochondrial quality control, mitochondrial biogenesis, Mitochondrial fusion/fission, mitophagy, Mitochondrial unfolded protein response
Received: 14 Jan 2025; Accepted: 25 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Zhang, Yao and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yongming Yao, Translational Medicine Research Center, Medical Innovation Research Division and the Fourth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
Dingwei Yang, Department of Nephrology, Tianjin Hospital of Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
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