Structure and integrity of the mitochondrial network play important roles in many cellular processes. Loss of integrity can lead to the activation of a variety of signalling pathways and affect the cell’s response to infections. The activation of such mitochondria-mediated cellular responses has implications for infection recognition, signal transduction and pathogen control. Although we have a basic understanding of mitochondrial factors such as mitochondrial DNA or RNA that may be involved in processes like pro-inflammatory signalling, the diverse roles of mitochondria in host defence remain unclear. Here we will first summarise the functions of mitochondria in the host cell and provide an overview of the major known mitochondrial stress responses. We will then present recent studies that have contributed to the understanding of the role of mitochondria in infectious diseases and highlight a number of recently investigated models of bacterial and viral infections.

线粒体网络的结构和完整性在许多细胞过程中发挥着重要作用。完整性的丧失会导致多种信号通路的激活，并影响细胞对感染的反应。这种线粒体介导的细胞反应的激活对感染识别、信号转导和病原体控制具有重要意义。尽管我们对可能参与促炎信号传导等过程的线粒体因子（如线粒体 DNA 或 RNA）有基本的了解，但线粒体在宿主防御中的不同作用仍不清楚。在这里，我们将首先总结线粒体在宿主细胞中的功能，并概述已知的主要线粒体应激反应。