Energy Metabolism and Diseases

Energy is vital for the proper functioning of all organisms as it orchestrates indispensable cellular processes. Hence, it is not surprising that perturbations in energy metabolism are at the origin of numerous diseases. In fact, both temporally and functionally, energy metabolism provides a precise gauge of our health. The metabolic systems responsible for the synthesis of ATP, the universal energy currency, essentially constitute the tricarboxylic acid cycle in tandem with oxidative phosphorylation as well as glycolysis. While the latter operates in the cytoplasm, the former takes place in the mitochondria. These networks generate the crucial moiety, ATP, that fuels bodily components including high energy-demanding tissues from the heart, brain and muscle. Energy-producing and storing processes are intricately modulated by a variety of factors which include genetic composition, lifestyle choices, hormones, metabolites, and environmental fluctuations. Impairment of these regulatory systems is punctuated by cellular abnormalities that result in various afflictions. Although neurological disorders, heart failures, muscle complications, cancer, obesity, aging and immunological defects are known to be intimately linked to metabolism, the precise pathways by which energy disruption triggers these diseases have yet to be fully delineated. This specialty section will provide a platform to communicate how dysfunctional energy metabolism (formation, utilization, storage, signaling, and regulation) contributes to disease conditions. The influence of microbes inhabiting our body on ATP homeostasis, a still uncharted territory, will be part of this conversation. Findings on therapies aimed at energy metabolism in an effort to remedy disease situations will also be included.
Book review, editorial, general commentary, mini review, opinion, original research, perspective, case study, clinical trial, method, and review will be published, disseminated and commented on