Mitochondria-Targeted Nanotherapies in Aging Neurodegenerative Disorders: Emerging Prospects and Clinical Potential

Aging is a significant risk factor of neurodegenerative disorders (NDs) such as Huntington's, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and multiple sclerosis (MS). Although several clinical, neuroimaging, and biomarker-based diagnostic approaches are available for NDs, their limited sensitivity for early-stage detection, disease specificity, and prediction of disease progression continue to present significant clinical challenges, often resulting in delayed diagnosis and therapeutic intervention. According to previously published works, the preliminary pathological feature of such disorders is mitochondrial dysfunction. This may lead to elevated oxidative stress, impaired mitophagy, unbalanced mitochondrial function, and bioenergetic failure. This review examines how mitochondria-targeted nanotherapeutic approaches can overcome these pathological barriers and improve therapeutic outcomes in aging-associated neurodegeneration. Targeted delivery of drug-loaded nanocarriers, such as gene-delivery, lipid-based, metallic, and polymeric nanoparticles, has emerged as a potential platform to deliver medication directly to defective mitochondria. It may increase mitochondrial biogenesis, maintain redox balance, and protect against neuronal degeneration. This work incorporates disease-specific mitochondrial pathology with current progress in targeted nanotherapeutics, age-associated delivery barriers, clinical revolution, and emerging artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled precision therapeutic approaches. Mitochondria-targeted nanotherapeutics depict a potential disease-modifying strategy for aging-related NDs. However, further advancements in targeting efficacy, scalable production, long-term safety, and clinical validation can facilitate a successful clinical revolution.