To conduct a bibliometric analysis of studies on mitochondrial transfer and immune regulation published between 2016 and 2025.
Approach:
Data Source and Search Strategy: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Web of Science for studies related to mitochondrial transfer and immune regulation, covering the period from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2025.
Data Analysis: Bibliometric analysis was performed using bibliometrix in R and CiteSpace to evaluate publication trends, contributions of countries, institutions, authors, and journals, as well as keyword co-occurrence, clustering, burst detection, and co-citation patterns.
Key Findings:
967 publications were included, with a steady increase in annual output, particularly after 2020.
China and the United States were the leading contributors and occupied central positions in international collaboration networks.
Early studies focused on mitochondrial DNA-associated inflammatory sensing and innate immunity, while recent studies emphasized intercellular mitochondrial transfer, mitochondrial transplantation, T-cell function, tumor-associated macrophages, cancer immunotherapy, metabolic rewiring, and autophagy-associated mitochondrial quality control.
Mitochondrial transplantation and tunneling nanotube were identified as prominent burst terms.
Co-citation analysis revealed major knowledge domains related to mitochondrial danger signaling, intercellular transfer mechanisms, mesenchymal stem cell-mediated immune regulation, tumor immunity, and translational applications.
Interpretation:
The bibliometric analysis indicates a shift from a focus on mitochondrial danger signaling to intercellular transfer and immune-cell metabolic remodeling, highlighting the complexity of immune outcomes influenced by mitochondrial dynamics.
Limitations:
The analysis is limited to publications indexed in selected databases and may not capture all relevant studies.
The study period extends only until 2025, which may not reflect future developments in the field.
Conclusion:
The findings suggest a need for more source-defined and context-specific studies to clarify the therapeutic potential of mitochondrial transfer.
