Macroautophagy and Mitophagy in Neurodegenerative Disorders: Focus on Therapeutic Interventions.

ABSTRACT: Macroautophagy, a quality control mechanism, is an evolutionarily conserved pathway of lysosomal degradation of protein aggregates, pathogens, and damaged organelles. As part of its vital homeostatic role, macroautophagy deregulation is associated with various human disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases. There are several lines of evidence that associate protein misfolding and mitochondrial dysfunction in the etiology of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's diseases. Macroautophagy has been implicated in the degradation of different protein aggregates such as Aβ, tau, alpha-synuclein (α-syn), and mutant huntingtin (mHtt) and in the clearance of dysfunctional mitochondria. Taking these into consideration, targeting autophagy might represent an effective therapeutic strategy

SUBMITTER: Magalhaes JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8615936 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature