Brain Mitochondria, Aging, and Parkinson’s Disease
1
Parkinson’s Disease Center, Neurology Unit, Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, 20100 Milan, Italy
2
Università degli Studi of Milan, 20100 Milan, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Genes 2018, 9(5), 250; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes9050250
Received: 15 February 2018 / Revised: 27 April 2018 / Accepted: 7 May 2018 / Published: 11 May 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mitochondria and Aging)
This paper reconsiders the role of mitochondria in aging and in Parkinson’s Disease (PD). The most important risk factor for PD is aging. Alterations in mitochondrial activity are typical of aging. Mitochondrial aging is characterized by decreased oxidative phosphorylation, proteasome activity decrease, altered autophagy, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Beyond declined oxidative phosphorylation, mitochondrial dysfunction consists of a decline of beta-oxidation as well as of the Krebs cycle. Not inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations are acquired over time and parallel the decrease in oxidative phosphorylation. Many of these mitochondrial alterations are also found in the PD brain specifically in the substantia nigra (SN). mtDNA deletions and development of respiratory chain deficiency in SN neurons of aged individuals as well as of individuals with PD converge towards a shared pathway, which leads to neuronal dysfunction and death. Finally, several nuclear genes that are mutated in hereditary PD are usually implicated in mitochondrial functioning to a various extent and their mutation may cause mitochondrial impairment. In conclusion, a tight link exists between mitochondria, aging, and PD.
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Keywords:
mitochondria; aging; Parkinson’s disease; genes; oxidative phosphorylation
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Rango, M.; Bresolin, N. Brain Mitochondria, Aging, and Parkinson’s Disease. Genes 2018, 9, 250. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes9050250
AMA Style
Rango M, Bresolin N. Brain Mitochondria, Aging, and Parkinson’s Disease. Genes. 2018; 9(5):250. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes9050250
Chicago/Turabian StyleRango, Mario; Bresolin, Nereo. 2018. "Brain Mitochondria, Aging, and Parkinson’s Disease" Genes 9, no. 5: 250. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes9050250
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