Mitochondria Lead the Way: Mitochondrial Dynamics and Function in Cellular Movements in Development and Disease

Abstract

The dynamics, distribution and activity of subcellular organelles are integral to regulating cell shape changes during various physiological processes such as epithelial cell formation, cell migration and morphogenesis. Mitochondria are famously known as the powerhouse of the cell and play an important role in buffering calcium, releasing reactive oxygen species and key metabolites for various activities in a eukaryotic cell. Mitochondrial dynamics and morphology changes regulate these functions and their regulation is, in turn, crucial for various morphogenetic processes. In this review, we evaluate recent literature which highlights the role of mitochondrial morphology and activity during cell shape changes in epithelial cell formation, cell division, cell migration and tissue morphogenesis during organism development and in disease. In general, we find that mitochondrial shape is regulated for their distribution or translocation to the sites of active cell shape dynamics or morphogenesis. Often, key metabolites released locally and molecules buffered by mitochondria play crucial roles in regulating signaling pathways that motivate changes in cell shape, mitochondrial shape and mitochondrial activity. We conclude that mechanistic analysis of interactions between mitochondrial morphology, activity, signaling pathways and cell shape changes across the various cell and animal-based model systems holds the key to deciphering the common principles for this interaction.

Mitochondrial trafficking and redox/phosphorylation signaling supporting cell migration phenotypes

“…ROS, in particular H 2 O 2 , can act on numerous signaling pathways controlling cell migration Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences frontiersin.org including receptor activation, kinase and phosphatase activity, FA dynamics, membrane reorganization and transcription factor activation (Hurd et al, 2012;Truong and Carroll, 2013) (Figure 3). During cell migration and invasion, the mitochondria have been found to localize to the leading edge of the cell to help drive cytoskeleton rearrangements (Madan et al, 2021). Anchor Cell (AC) invasion of the basement membrane (BM) in C. elegans requires mitochondrial recruitment to the invasive edge of the AC to drive invadopodia formation (Garde and Sherwood, 2021;Garde et al, 2022).…”

Mitofusins: from mitochondria to fertility

“…In somatic cells, as cells enter interphase, the mitochondria show an elongated network pattern and accumulate around the nucleus and cell periphery. In contrast, during most of the mitosis period, mitochondria show a fragmented network pattern that disperses in the cytoplasm [ 59 , 60 ]. The development of germ cells and meiosis are far more complex than that of somatic cells.…”

Simple to Complex: The Role of Actin and Microtubules in Mitochondrial Dynamics in Amoeba, Yeast, and Mammalian Cells

“…Fusion increases in response to cellular starvation in an effort to increase mitochondrial respiration and to mediate mitochondrial DNA damage [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. It is clear that mitochondrial function and structure are intertwined and that both function and structure regulate cellular processes such as migration, cell division, embryogenesis, and disease [ 25 ]. To add to this complexity, these same cellular processes also regulate mitochondria structure and thus function [ 25 ].…”

“…It is clear that mitochondrial function and structure are intertwined and that both function and structure regulate cellular processes such as migration, cell division, embryogenesis, and disease [ 25 ]. To add to this complexity, these same cellular processes also regulate mitochondria structure and thus function [ 25 ].…”