Mitochondrial homeostasis regulation: A promising therapeutic target for Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive loss of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) and the presence of Lewy bodies (LBs) or Lewy neurites (LNs) which consist of α-synuclein (α-syn) and a complex mix of other biomolecules. Mitochondrial dysfunction is widely believed to play an essential role in the pathogenesis of PD and other related neurodegenerative diseases. But mitochondrial dysfunction is subject to complex genetic regulation. There is increasing evidence that PD-related genes directly or indirectly affect mitochondrial integrity. Therefore, targeted regulation of mitochondrial function has great clinical application prospects in the treatment of PD. However, lots of PD drugs targeting mitochondria have been developed but their clinical therapeutic effects are not ideal. This review aims to reveal the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases based on the mitochondrial structure and function, which may highlight potential interventions and therapeutic targets for the development of PD drugs to recover mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases.