Membranes and Organelles in Communication: Contact Sites, Extracellular Vesicles, and Mitochondrial Transfer

Cellular communication relies on a multilayered network that begins at the plasma membrane and extends deep into the organelle architecture of the cell. Activation of membrane receptors by lipids, metabolites, or environmental cues triggers signaling pathways that reshape lipid composition, protein expression, post-translational modifications, and metabolic activity. These intracellular responses are integrated through dynamic organelle behavior and specialized membrane contact sites, such as ER–mitochondria (MAMs), ER–endosome, and endosome–mitochondria interfaces, which coordinate calcium flux, lipid trafficking, mitochondrial dynamics, and stress adaptation.Extracellular vesicles (EVs) and mitochondria-derived vesicles (MDVs) have emerged as interconnected mediators of this communication. Under stress or metabolic pressure, mitochodria initiate adaptive programs that reshape fission–fusion cycles, engage quality-control mechanisms, and generate MDVs). EVs and MDVs collectively reflect the metabolic, structural, and transcriptional history of the producing cell: their lipid, protein, and nucleic acid cargo captures a “molecular signature” of recent signaling events, organelle remodeling, stress responses, and gene-expression regulation. Together, mitochondrial remodeling and vesicle biogenesis contribute to a continuum that links plasma membrane receptor activation to intracellular signaling, organelle crosstalk and to the production of vesicular messages that externalize complex information about the cell’s state.This Research Topic seeks to provide a unified platform for understanding how cells sense, integrate, and broadcast their internal states, ultimately revealing how membranous organelles and cellular membranes together shape the language of intercellular communication.We welcome original research and reviews from molecular biosciences, biochemistry, cell biology, biophysics, and translational medicine, exploring:• Mitochondrial stress signaling and its impact on lipid metabolism and organelle dynamics• Membrane contact sites regulating mitochondrial behavior and vesicle formation• Mechanisms governing mitochondrial transfer, MDVs, and mitochondria-containing EVs• How changes in lipid composition and signaling reprogram vesicle-mediated communication• Functional consequences of EV- and mitochondria-mediated communication in immunity, cancer, neurodegeneration, and metabolic disease• Chemical, biophysical, and imaging tools enabling the study of membrane and organelle communication Topic editors: Marianna Flora Tomasello, Cristina Barbagallo Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/76673/membranes-and-organelles-in-communication-contact-sites-extracellular-vesicles-and-mitochondrial-transfer