Xiaoqing Peng,1– 4,* Yuanyuan Yang,3,4,* Ruirui Hou,1 Longbiao Zhang,1 Can Shen,3 Xiaoyan Yang,3 Zhigang Luo,5 Zongzhi Yin,3,4 Yunxia Cao3,4 

1School of Pharmacy, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, People’s Republic of China; 2Inflammation and Immune Mediated Diseases Laboratory of Anhui Province, Anhui Institute of Innovative Drugs, Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, People’s Republic of China; 4The Key National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract (Anhui Medical University), Hefei, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Yunxia Cao; Zongzhi Yin, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No. 218 Jixi Road, Sushan District, Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China, Email caoyunxia5972@ahmu.edu.cn; yinzongzhi@ahmu.edu.cn

Abstract: Mitochondrial carrier homolog 2 (MTCH2) is a member of the solute carrier 25 family, located on the outer mitochondrial membrane. MTCH2 was first identified in 2000. The development in MTCH2 research is rapidly increasing. The most well-known role of MTCH2 is linking to the pro-apoptosis BID to facilitate mitochondrial apoptosis. Genetic variants in MTCH2 have been investigated for their association with metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases, however, no intervention or therapeutic suggestions were provided. Recent studies revealed the physiological and pathological function of MTCH2 in metabolic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, cancers, embryonic development and reproduction via regulating mitochondrial apoptosis, metabolic shift between glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation, mitochondrial fusion/fission, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, etc. This review endeavors to assess a total of 131 published articles to summarise the structure and physiological/pathological role of MTCH2, which has not previously been conducted. This review concludes that MTCH2 plays a crucial role in metabolic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, cancers, embryonic development and reproduction, and the predominant molecular mechanism is regulation of mitochondrial function. This review gives a comprehensive state of current knowledgement on MTCH2, which will promote the therapeutic research of MTCH2.

Keywords: Mimp, MTCH2, mitochondrial carrier homolog 2, BID, apoptosis