Neuronal Mitophagy Assay

In recent years, mitophagy has gradually emerged as a focus area of research among various types of autophagy. Exploring the mechanisms of mitophagy and their pivotal roles in multiple neurodegenerative diseases (ND) has greatly increased. As an expert in the field of neuroscience, Creative Biolabs is committed to providing innovative and professional neuronal mitophagy assay services to customers around the world, laying the foundation for further development of mitophagy-enhancing strategies to combat ND.

Overview of Mitophagy

It is well known that mitophagy is an evolutionarily conserved cellular process through which mitochondria can be removed. This pathway is necessary for the organism to control the total amount of mitochondria to meet the energy supply of life activities. What's more, it has the ability to induce the clearance of abnormal mitochondria under specific conditions. Elimination of aberrant mitochondria is essential for the proper functioning of neurons. The basal level of mitophagy involves mitochondrial quality control while excessive mitophagy is closely related to cell death in many diseases. Therefore, mitophagy can be seen as a double-edged sword.

Fig.1 Neuronal mitophagy. (Cai & Jeong, 2020)

Mitophagy in Neurons

In general, neurons are regulated by many systems. Intracellular components are renewed through processes of synthesis, degradation, and recycling. High levels of mitophagy have been reported to have severe effects on neuronal cells. Furthermore, increasing evidence suggests that it plays a crucial role in ND. Abnormal mitophagy is widely associated with ND, such as Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and Huntington's disease (HD).

Neuronal Mitophagy Assay Provided by Creative Biolabs

Indeed, measuring neuronal mitophagy by quantifying the co-localization of mitochondrial markers with autophagosomes is a common strategy. Recently a signal-retaining autophagy indicator that localizes to mitochondria (mito-SRAI) to quantitatively measure mitophagy was developed and emerged as a high-throughput in vitro method for screening chemical inducers of mitophagy. Moreover, mitophagy TOM20 (a biomarker for mitochondrial abundance) loss is emerging as a scalable and rapid neuroscience in vitro assay, which allows for potentially screening specific compounds to enhance neuronal mitophagy capacity.

Exploring the molecular mechanism of neuronal mitophagy will facilitate the development of novel mitophagy regulators to promote cellular homeostasis in ND. At Creative Biolabs, we have successfully constructed a variety of in vitro models & animal models of ND and a first-class platform. Our scientists are committed to providing global customers with a full range of neuronal mitophagy in vitro assay services to help detect the impact of candidate compounds on mitophagy, providing you with the best route to the success. Please contact us in time for detailed information and specific quotations.

Reference

1. Cai, Q.; Jeong, Y.Y. Mitophagy in Alzheimer’s disease and other age-related neurodegenerative diseases. Cells. 2020, 9(1): 150.