Abstract
Proper degradation of aged and damaged mitochondria through mitophagy is essential to ensure mitochondrial integrity and function. Translocation of PARK2/Parkin onto damaged mitochondria induces mitophagy in many non-neuronal cell types. However, direct evidence showing PARK2-mediated mitophagy in mature neurons is controversial, leaving unanswered questions as to how, where, and by what time course PARK2-mediated mitophagy occurs in neurons following mitochondrial depolarization. We applied long time-lapse imaging in live mature cortical neurons to monitor the slow but dynamic and spatial PARK2 translocation onto damaged mitochondria and subsequent degradation through the autophagy-lysosomal pathway. In comparison with non-neuronal cells, our study reveals unique features of PARK2-mediated mitophagy in mature neurons, which will advance our understanding of pathogenesis of several major neurodegenerative diseases characterized by damaged mitochondria or a dysfunctional autophagy-lysosomal system.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 976-978 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Autophagy |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2012 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Molecular Biology
- Cell Biology
Keywords
- Autophagosome
- Autophagy
- Depolarization
- Lysosome
- Mitochondria
- Mitochondrial membrane potential
- Mitochondrial mobility
- Mitochondrial quality control
- Neuronal mitophagy
- PARK2
- Parkin