Mitochondria: master regulators of danger signalling

Abstract

Throughout more than 1.5 billion years of obligate endosymbiotic co-evolution, mitochondria have developed not only the capacity to control distinct molecular cascades leading to cell death but also the ability to sense (and react to) multiple situations of cellular stress, including viral infection. In addition, mitochondria can emit danger signals that alert the cell or the whole organism of perturbations in homeostasis, hence promoting the induction of cell-intrinsic or systemic adaptive responses, respectively. As such, mitochondria can be considered as master regulators of danger signalling.