Targeting mitophagy as a strategy for therapeutic intervention in diseases

Description

Abstract Mitophagy is a form of autophagy (a self-protective mechanism of living cells or organisms under various stressful conditions) that selectively degrades damaged mitochondria. During this process, double membrane autophagosomes enclose entire mitochondria and then fuse with lysosomes for degradation. It is now clear that many human pathologies present alterations in mitophagy. Maintaining a healthy mitochondrial pool by modulating mitophagy is therefore of particular importance in neurodegenerative and other related diseases. Our laboratory explores the molecular components of mitophagy as novel pharmacological targets for drug development and therapeutic intervention for neuodegenerative and other diseases. In particular, I will present our latest findings on the central role of microRNA-218 in the control of mitophagy and therefore as a promising new target for human diseases. In addition, I will unveil, one of the main mitophagic receptors, as a novel protective factor in the context of multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system.

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