About this Research Topic

Background

Membrane contact sites (MCSs) have gained a lot of attention throughout the past decade. They have been recognized as important mechanisms for facilitating inter-organelle communication. Especially regarding cellular lipid traffic between membranes, MCS are regarded as efficient alternatives to vesicular trafficking. From yeast to mammals, the conserved tethering proteins that promote intracellular membrane association are recognized as critical structures for regulating metabolism and cell growth.

Building on the great success of the Research Topic "Lipids and membrane contacts in yeast – structure, functional aspects and implications on aging, cell death and autophagy" the launch of this second volume aims at updating the readers on recent developments in the field of membrane contacts, not only in yeast but also in animal cells. New developments of note may involve MCSs involvement in inter-organelle communication, organelle structure, organelle inheritance and biogenesis, and lipid and protein traffic, but also extend to MCS regulation of autophagy, membrane stress responses, cell death, and aging as well as emerging insights into the role of MCSs in disease.

Recent findings have underscored the importance of MCSs as mechanisms that dynamically coordinate multi-organelle processes, allowing for varied cellular responses.
Our goal is to encourage thinking about MCSs from new angles that might lead to integrated molecular models that interconnect MCS functions.

We are interested in publishing Original Research, Reviews and Mini-Reviews, as well as Perspectives, Opinion pieces or Commentaries focusing on either of the following topics:
• Structure, composition and dynamic regulation of MCSs
• Structural traits of molecular tethers and lipid transfer activities
• Implication of MCSs and lipids in cell death and aging
• The role of MCSs and lipid metabolism in autophagy
• Dynamic regulation of MCS plasticity
• MCSs as coordinators of lipid metabolism between organelles
• Roles of MCSs in membrane stress responses
• MCSs in organelle biogenesis, inheritance and the regulation of cell structure
• Influence of MCSs on the formation of membrane domains and lipid signaling
• MCSs and Ca2+ regulation
• The molecular and cellular role of MCSs in disease

A full list of accepted article types, including descriptions, can be found at this link.

Keywords: Membrane Contact Sites, Lipid Transfer, Lipid Metabolism, Ca2+ regulation, Autophagy, Cell Death, Aging

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.

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