About this Research Topic
Plants and animals live in close association with their microbiota, which is characterized as the populations of commensal, symbiotic, and pathogenic microorganisms found in all multicellular organisms. Technological advances in next generation sequencing have allowed scientists to research broadly the relationships between microbiome and host in physiology and disease. Consequently, several lines of evidence support that the interaction and crosstalk between microbiota and the host is essential for sustaining the host's physiology and homeostasis, and disruption of this “coexistence” has been associated with various diseases. In addition, metagenomics and clinical studies have highlighted the importance of gut microbiota to human health through control of host immune response and metabolism. One of the aspects of microbiota interaction with host cells is by intermingling with the mitochondrial activities. This crosstalk of mitochondria-microbiota is intriguing from a biological and evolutionary perspective because mitochondria share many common structural and functional features with the prokaryotic world.
Gut microbiota signal to mucosal cell mitochondria including epithelial cells and immune cells, alter mitochondrial metabolism, activate immune cells, induce inflammatory signaling, and modify the function of the epithelial barrier. Microbiota modulates mitochondrial function and uses it as a conduit for strengthening contact between host and microbiota. This interaction relies on the nature and variety of the gut bacterial strain to exert its pathogenic and beneficial effects. Based on recent findings, microbiota may be able to interact directly with the expression of the host cell genes by favoring the insertion of bacterial and mitochondrial DNA into the nuclear genome. Taking all the above into account, the microbiome and the mitochondria have clearly emerged as two cutting-edge research areas in a wide range of biomedical conditions. The increasing knowledge of interaction between mitochondria and microbiota may be of great importance to better understand the mechanisms of mitochondrial and metabolic diseases, and the clinical syndromes associated with quality and quantity of microbiota species.
In the present special issue, we welcome basic, translational and clinical research studies on gut, lung, immune system microbiota, as well as other organs, with emphasis on delineating the signal transduction pathways and crosstalk between microbiota and mitochondria and the effects of this interaction on physiology and related diseases.
Examples of research works include but are not limited to the following:
• Direct and indirect effects of microbiota on cell signaling through crosstalk with mitochondria mediated by toxins and metabolites such as taurine, histamine, spermine, bacteriocins.
• Role of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), nitric oxide, fatty acids and related signaling in the reciprocal interaction between mitochondria and microbiota.
• Effects of microbiota-mitochondria crosstalk in metabolic (e.g. obesity, diabetes) and other diseases (e.g. neurodegenerative diseases, lung diseases, infectious and inflammatory diseases, autoimmune diseases etc.)
• Physiology/pathophysiology evaluation of the microbiota-mitochondria in animal models and humans
• Manipulation of the microbiota as a therapeutic tool in diseases that mitochondria play a role in their pathophysiology
• “Omics” based approaches (next generation sequencing, proteomics etc.) to study the interaction of mitochondria-microbiota at the cellular-tissue-organ level.
Types of eligible studies include original Research articles, Reviews, Mini reviews, Expert Opinions, Hypothesis and Theory and Perspective.
We hope that you will consider our special issue as a platform to communicate your most recent findings and ideas on the field of microbiota-mitochondria and their role in physiology and disease.
Keywords: microbiota-mitochondria, physiology and disease, CELL SIGNALING
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.