Mitochondrial quality control in AMD: does mitophagy play a pivotal role?

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the predominant cause of visual loss in old people in the developed world, whose incidence is increasing. This disease is caused by the decrease in macular function, due to the degeneration of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. The aged retina is charac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS 2018-08, Vol.75 (16), p.2991-3008
Main Authors: Hyttinen, Juha M. T., Viiri, Johanna, Kaarniranta, Kai, Błasiak, Janusz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aging - genetics
Aging - metabolism
Autophagy
Biochemistry
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Cell Biology
Degenerative diseases
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA Damage
Energy consumption
Epithelium
Homeostasis
Humans
Life Sciences
Macular degeneration
Macular Degeneration - genetics
Macular Degeneration - metabolism
Mitochondria
Mitochondria - metabolism
Mitophagy
Older people
Pathogenesis
Phagocytosis
Quality control
Reactive oxygen species
Reactive Oxygen Species - metabolism
Retina
Retina - metabolism
Retinal pigment epithelium
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Summary:Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the predominant cause of visual loss in old people in the developed world, whose incidence is increasing. This disease is caused by the decrease in macular function, due to the degeneration of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. The aged retina is characterised by increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), impaired autophagy, and DNA damage that are linked to AMD pathogenesis. Mitophagy, a mitochondria-specific type of autophagy, is an essential part of mitochondrial quality control, the collective mechanism responsible for this organelle’s homeostasis. The abundance of ROS, DNA damage, and the excessive energy consumption in the ageing retina all contribute to the degeneration of RPE cells and their mitochondria. We discuss the role of mitophagy in the cell and argue that its impairment may play a role in AMD pathogenesis. Thus, mitophagy as a potential therapeutic target in AMD and other degenerative diseases is as well explored.
ISSN:1420-682X
1420-9071
DOI:10.1007/s00018-018-2843-7