title: Morphological and bioenergetic demands underlying the mitophagy in post-mitotic neurons: the pink-parkin pathway.
abstract: Evidence suggests a striking causal relationship between changes in quality control of neuronal mitochondria and numerous devastating human neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Contrary to replicating mammalian cells with a metabolism essentially glycolytic, post-mitotic neurons are distinctive owing to (i) their exclusive energetic dependence from mitochondrial metabolism and (ii) their polarized shape, which entails compartmentalized and distinct energetic needs. Here, we review the recent findings on mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy in differentiated neurons focusing on how the exceptional characteristics of neuronal populations in their morphology and bioenergetics needs make them quite different to other cells in controlling the intracellular turnover of these organelles.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Translational Pharmacology - National Research Council Rome, Italy ; European Brain Research Institute Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Amadoro
authors.affiliation: Institute of Translational Pharmacology - National Research Council Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Corsetti
authors.affiliation: European Brain Research Institute Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Fulvio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Florenzano
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomembrane and Bioenergetics - National Research Council Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Atlante
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomembrane and Bioenergetics - National Research Council Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bobba
authors.affiliation: Clinical Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Science, University of Trieste Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nicolin
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Salerno Baronissi, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Nori
authors.affiliation: European Brain Research Institute Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Calissano
keywords: mitochondria dynamics; mitophagy; neurodegenerative diseases; primary neurons; quality control