Mitochondrial-derived peptides: New markers for cardiometabolic dysfunction

Great attention is being paid to the evaluation of new markers in blood circula-tion for the estimation of tissue metabolism disturbance. This endogenous disturbance may contribute to the onset and progression of cardiometabolic disease. In addition to their role in energy production and metabolism, mitochondria play a main function in cellular mech-anisms, including apoptosis, oxidative stress and calcium homeostasis. Mitochondria produce mitochondrial-derived peptides that mediate the transcriptional stress response by translo-cating into the nucleus and interacting with deoxyribonucleic acid. This class of peptides includes humanin, mitochondrial open reading frame of the 12S ribosomal ribonucleic acid type c (MOTS-c) , small humanin-like peptides. Mitochondrial-derived peptides are regulators of metabolism, exerting cytoprotective effects through antioxidative stress, anti-inflammatory responses and antiapoptosis; they are emerging biomarkers reflecting mitochondrial function , the circulating concentration of these proteins can be used to diagnose cardiometabolic dysfunction. The aims of this review are: specialIntscript to describe the emerging role for mitochondrial-derived peptides as biomarkers; and specialIntscript to discuss the therapeutic application of these peptides.