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  • Review Article
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Mechanisms of mitophagy in cellular homeostasis, physiology and pathology

Abstract

Mitophagy is an evolutionarily conserved cellular process to remove dysfunctional or superfluous mitochondria, thus fine-tuning mitochondrial number and preserving energy metabolism. In this Review, we survey recent advances towards elucidating the molecular mechanisms that mediate mitochondrial elimination and the signalling pathways that govern mitophagy. We consider the contributions of mitophagy in physiological and pathological contexts and discuss emerging findings, highlighting the potential value of mitophagy modulation in therapeutic intervention.

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Fig. 1: Mechanisms of mitochondrial selective autophagy.
Fig. 2: Physiological roles of mitophagy.
Fig. 3: Chemical modulators of energy metabolism.
Fig. 4: Milestones in mitophagy research.

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Acknowledgements

We apologize to those colleagues, whose work could not be referenced owing to space limitations. K.P. is supported by an AXA Research Fund post-doctoral long-term fellowship. E.L. is supported by a Scholarship for Strengthening Post-Doctoral Research from The Greek State Scholarships Foundation (IKY) within the framework of the Operational Programme “Human Resources Development Program, Education and Life-Long Learning”. Work in the authors’ laboratory is funded by grants from the European Research Council (ERC – GA695190 – MANNA, ERC – GA737599 – NeuronAgeScreen), the European Commission Framework Programmes, and the Greek Ministry of Education.

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Palikaras, K., Lionaki, E. & Tavernarakis, N. Mechanisms of mitophagy in cellular homeostasis, physiology and pathology. Nat Cell Biol 20, 1013–1022 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-018-0176-2

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