Mitochondrial fission and fusion dynamics: the long and short of it

Maintenance of functional mitochondria requires fusion and fission of these dynamic organelles. The proteins that regulate mitochondrial dynamics are now associated with a broad range of cellular functions. Mitochondrial fission and fusion are often viewed as a finely tuned balance within cells, yet an integrated and quantitative understanding of how these processes interact with each other and with other mitochondrial and cellular processes is not well formulated. Direct visual observation of mitochondrial fission and fusion events, together with computational approaches promise to provide new insight.