Mitochondrial fusion and fission proteins as novel therapeutic targets for treating cardiovascular disease

The past decade has vvithessecl a number of exciting developments in the field of mitochondrial dynamics - a phenomenon in which changes in mitochonclrial shape and movement impact on cellular physiology and pathology. By undergoing fusion and fission, mitochondria are able to change their morphology betvveen elongated interconnected networks and discrete fragmented structures, respectively. The cardiac mitochondria, in particular, have garnered much interest due to their unique spatial at in the adult cardiomyocyte, and the multiple roles they play in cell death and survival. In this article, we review the role of the mitochondrial fusion and fission proteins as novel therapeutic targets for treating cardiovascular disease. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier EN. This is an open access article under the CC BY license.