Aging is a physiological process that leads to a gradual alteration of organs and their functions that can be accelerated by environmental and behavioral factors. Physiological aging includes sarcopenia, bone density decline, as well as cognitive impairment. Beyond the common factors that can affect aging, there are some rare diseases that cause premature aging, such as Cockayne, Hutchinson-Gilford, and Werner syndromes.

Pathological aging is characterized by a faster decline in physical and cognitive abilities as observed, for example, in patients affected by senile dementia, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s disease.The loss of mitochondrial genome integrity, due to the accumulation of DNA mutations, is associated with aging and age-related diseases, such as neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, sarcopenia, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer.

According to the Mitochondrial Theory of Aging (MTA), RRos-inducedmitochondrial DNA mutations should trigger the aging-related mitochondrial dysfunction. In particular, the accumulation of mitochondrial mutations can lead to mitochondrial dysfunction with a consequent energetic capacity decline and an oxidative damage increase, resulting in cellular loss by apoptosis and organ failure. In agreement with the MTA, the number of mitochondrial DNA mutations increases with age. Nevertheless, a growing body of evidence shows the mitochondrial genome is protected by the accumulation of oxidative damage by a preferential removal of the damaged DNA strand. Consistently, the analysis of the mutational signatures in human cancer biopsies showed the absence of G to T transversions, the main result of the miscoding properties of the 8-oxo guanine, the most abundant DNA lesion induced under oxidative stress.

Hence, further investigations are necessary to understand the role of the mitochondrial genome in the aging process, as a key element involved in both mitochondrial functionality and signaling. In addition, new strategies for the identification of predictive and prognostic biomarkers of aging should be developed.

This Research Topic welcomes submissions on different article types, including original basic or translational research, reviews and mini-reviews, hypotheses and theory, perspectives, brief research reports, general commentary, and opinions. Areas to be covered in this research topic may include (but are not limited to):

•Mitochondrial DNA integrity
•Molecular mechanisms responsible for the onset of aging and age-associated diseases
•Premature aging
•Oxidative stress
•Lifestyle and Environmental Factors
•Biomarkers of aging
•Mitochondrial DAMPS

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The Role of Mitochondrial Genome in Healthy and Pathological Aging