Mapping the scientific landscape of mitochondria-associated membranes: a bibliometric insight into emerging frontiers in aging and diseases

BACKGROUND: Mitochondria-associated membranes (MAMs) are critical hubs coordinating energy metabolism, lipid homeostasis, and Ca2⁺ signaling, thereby regulating cell survival, stress responses, and apoptosis. Increasing evidence links MAMs dysfunction to aging, neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic disorders, and cancer. Although numerous mechanistic studies and narrative reviews have been published, a systematic, mechanism-oriented bibliometric evaluation of the global MAMs research landscape is still lacking. METHODS: We performed a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of MAMs-related literature indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection from 2009 to 2024, using Bibliometrix, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace to integrate publication trends, collaboration networks, keyword co-occurrence, thematic evolution, and citation impact. RESULTS: A total of 1199 publications were identified, showing a rapid annual growth rate of 21.57%. Beyond general trend analysis, our study reveals that research hotspots converge on Ca2⁺ homeostasis, ER stress, apoptosis, and mitochondrial dynamics, and progressively shift toward aging-related biological processes. By mapping high-frequency keywords to known MAMs-associated pathways, we identify aging, ER stress, and apoptosis as interconnected emerging themes. Importantly, this analysis highlights specific MAMs-related proteins, including HSP90α, as potential regulatory hubs linking stress responses and aging. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the first integrative, mechanism-oriented bibliometric framework of MAMs research, bridging quantitative publication patterns with underlying biological pathways. Our findings not only delineate the intellectual structure and evolving themes of the field but also generate testable hypotheses implicating MAMs and key regulatory proteins in aging-related processes, thereby offering guidance for future mechanistic and translational studies.