Ca2+-mediated coupling between neuromuscular junction and mitochondria in skeletal muscle

•Bidirectional communication between skeletal muscle and the motor neuron occurs at the site of neuromuscular junction.•The fate of skeletal muscle myofibers depends on mitochondria.•There must exist a fine-controlled functional coordination between neuromuscular junction and mitochondria in a myofiber.•The spatiotemporal profiles of intracellular Ca2+ could couple mitochondrial function with neuromuscular junction activity in a myofiber. The volitional movement of skeletal is controlled by the motor neuron at the site of neuromuscular junction (NMJ) where the retrograde signals are also passed back from muscle to the motor neuron. As the normal function of muscle largely depends on mitochondria that determine the fate of a skeletal muscle myofiber, there must exist a fine-controlled functional coupling between NMJ and mitochondria in myofibers. This mini-review discusses recent publications that reveal how spatiotemporal profiles of intracellular free Ca2+ could couple mitochondrial function with the activity of NMJ in skeletal muscle myofibers.