Department of Pharmacology, Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology (Ministry of Health of China), College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Corresponding author: Zhong Chen. E-mail: chenzhong@zju.edu.cn

Abstract 

The selective degradation of damaged or excessive mitochondria by autophagy is termed mitophagy. Mitophagy is crucial for mitochondrial quality control and has been implicated in several neurodegenerative disorders as well as in ischemic brain injury. Emerging evidence suggested that the role of mitophagy in cerebral ischemia may depend on different pathological processes. In particular, a neuroprotective role of mitophagy has been proposed, and the regulation of mitophagy seems to be important in cell survival. For these reasons, extensive investigations aimed to profi le the mitophagy process and its underlying molecular mechanisms have been executed in recent years. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge regarding the mitophagy process and its role in cerebral ischemia, and focus on the pathological events and molecules that regulate mitophagy in ischemic brain injury.

Keywords

mitophagy; ischemic brain injury; mitochondria

[SpringerLink]