Metabolically Relevant Cell Biology - Role of Intracellular Organelles for Cardiac Metabolism

Living organisms consist of cells ranging from unicellular to multicellular organisms. Complex live-forms with further cellular specialization was evolutionarily needed to generate higher organs and organisms. While prokaryotic organisms exhibit simple phenotypes, eukaryotic cells develop specialized structures and cellular compartments to meet demands of function and energy supply during evolution. Endosymbiotic life of eukaryotic cells with prokaryotes, which means enduring integration of mitochondria and chloroplasts into eukaryotic cells – might be understood as fundamental and vital for further evolutionary development. Balance between energy supply and metabolic detoxification is needed to allow adequate cellular function, survival, and replication while dysregulation and oxidative impairment of organelles may lead to metabolic collapse, dysfunction, and finally cell death.