Mitochondria and the heart

Cardiac work demands a substantial amount of energy, stored in adenosine triphosphate (ATP), necessary for both contraction and relaxation.To meet these energy requirements, the heart is equipped with an efficient metabolic machinery.Mitochondria, the central organelle in maintaining cardiac function, primarily generate ATP through oxidative phosphorylation, involving redox reactions coupled with a chemiosmotic process across their membranes.Additionally, mitochondria play a role in regulating cell death and survival and modulating second messenger levels, such as calcium ions (Ca 2+ ) and reactive oxygen species (ROS).