Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Pharmacological approaches to restore mitochondrial function

2013; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 12; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/nrd4023

1474-1784

Pénélope A. Andreux, Riekelt H. Houtkooper, Johan Auwerx,

Adipose Tissue and Metabolism

Dysfunctional mitochondria are implicated in rare, inherited mitochondrial diseases as well as a variety of common age-related disorders. Here, Auwerx and colleagues provide an overview of diseases that affect mitochondria, highlight strategies for therapeutically intervening in mitochondrial pathways and discuss screening strategies for drug identification. Mitochondrial dysfunction is not only a hallmark of rare inherited mitochondrial disorders but also implicated in age-related diseases, including those that affect the metabolic and nervous system, such as type 2 diabetes and Parkinson's disease. Numerous pathways maintain and/or restore proper mitochondrial function, including mitochondrial biogenesis, mitochondrial dynamics, mitophagy and the mitochondrial unfolded protein response. New and powerful phenotypic assays in cell-based models as well as multicellular organisms have been developed to explore these different aspects of mitochondrial function. Modulating mitochondrial function has therefore emerged as an attractive therapeutic strategy for several diseases, which has spurred active drug discovery efforts in this area.