title: Mitochondrial Ca2+handling in Huntington's and Alzheimer's diseases - Role of ER-mitochondria crosstalk.
abstract: Mitochondria play a relevant role in Ca2+buffering, governing energy metabolism and neuronal function. Huntington's disease (HD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are two neurodegenerative disorders that, although clinically distinct, share pathological features linked to selective brain damage. These include mitochondrial dysfunction, intracellular Ca2+deregulation and mitochondrial Ca2+handling deficits. Both diseases are associated with misfolding and aggregation of specific proteins that physically interact with mitochondria and interfere with endoplasmic reticulum (ER)/mitochondria-contact sites. Cumulating evidences indicate that impairment of mitochondrial Ca2+homeostasis underlies the susceptibility to selective neuronal death observed in HD and AD; however data obtained with different models and experimental approaches are not always consistent. In this review, we explore the recent literature on deregulation of mitochondrial Ca2+handling underlying the interplay between mitochondria and ER in HD and AD-associated neurodegeneration.
authors.affiliation: CNC-Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; FMUC-Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Luana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Naia
authors.affiliation: CNC-Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; IIIUC-Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, University of Coimbra (IIIUC), Polo II, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ildete Luísa
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: CNC-Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; IIIUC-Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, University of Coimbra (IIIUC), Polo II, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Elisabete
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ferreiro
authors.affiliation: CNC-Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; FMUC-Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal. Electronic address: arego@fmed.uc.pt.
authors.forename: A Cristina
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Rego
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000378:metabolism*; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000378:metabolism*; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium
keywords: Amyloid-beta peptide; Calcium signaling; Endoplasmic reticulum; Mitochondria; Mutant huntingtin; Tau