Morphological and bioenergetic demands underlying the mitophagy in post-mitotic neurons: the pink–parkin pathway

Evidencesuggestsastrikingcausalrelationshipbetweenchangesinqualitycontrolofneuronalmitochondriaandnumerousdevastatinghumanneurodegenerativediseases,includingParkinson’sdisease,Alzheimer’sdisease,Huntington’sdisease,andamyotrophiclateralsclerosis.Contrarytoreplicatingmammaliancellswithametabolismessentiallyglycolytic,post-mitoticneuronsaredistinctiveowingto(i)theirexclusiveenergeticdependencefrommitochondrialmetabolismand(ii)theirpolarizedshape,whichentailscompartmentalizedanddistinctenergeticneeds.Here,wereviewtherecentfindingsonmitochondrialdynamicsandmitophagyindifferentiatedneuronsfocusingonhowtheexceptionalcharacteristicsofneuronalpopulationsintheirmorphologyandbioenergeticsneedsmakethemquitedifferenttoothercellsincontrollingtheintracellularturnoveroftheseorganelles.