Restoration of Lapsed Mitophagy as a Potential Treatment for Alzheimer ' s Disease

Many research groups have published evidence to suggest that age-related mitochondrial dysfunction is an important aspect of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. The brain is an energy-hungry organ and mitochondria are the power plants of the cell, responsible for producing the chemical energy store molecules that power cellular activity. It is well known that mitochondrial function declines with age; mitochondria in old tissues are structurally different, and less effective at their jobs. The research results here suggest that this mitochondrial decline has a lot to do with the fact that the cellular housekeeping processes of autophagy falter with age, and in particular mitophagy, the autophagic recycling of damaged or dysfunctional mitochondria. The degree of benefit seen from boosted mitophagy indicates that perhaps it is higher rather than lower in the hierarchy of mechanisms. That said, there is good evidence from other studies for lapsed mitophagy to be a consequence of deeper changes in mitochondrial dynamics that make it harder for the autophagic processes to operate. The question of the best place to intervene is probably one best settled by trying the various potential approaches in order to see how well they work. A point worth noting, as for all Alzheimer's research, is that the animal models of this condition are highly artificial. Old mice do not normally undergoing anything even remotely akin to the processes underlying Alzhei...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs