The Therapeutic Potential of Mitochondria Transplantation Therapy in Neurodegenerative and Neurovascular Disorders

Abstract

Neurodegenerative and neurovascular disorders affect millions of people worldwide and account for a large and increasing health burden on the general population. Thus, there is a critical need to identify potential disease-modifying treatments that can prevent or slow the disease progression. Mitochondria are highly dynamic organelles and play an important role in energy metabolism and redox homeostasis, and mitochondrial dysfunction threatens cell homeostasis, perturbs energy production, and ultimately leads to cell death and diseases. Impaired mitochondrial function has been linked to the pathogenesis of several human neurological disorders. Given the significant contribution of mitochondrial dysfunction in neurological disorders, there has been considerable interest in developing therapies that can attenuate mitochondrial abnormalities and proffer neuroprotective effects. Unfortunately, therapies that target specific components of mitochondria or oxidative stress pathways have exhibited limited translatability. To this end, mitochondrial transplantation therapy (MTT) presents a new paradigm of therapeutic intervention, which involves the supplementation of healthy mitochondria to replace the damaged mitochondria for the treatment of neurological disorders. Prior studies demonstrated that the supplementation of healthy donor mitochondria to damaged neurons promotes neuronal viability, activity, and neurite growth and has been shown to provide benefits for neural and extra-neural diseases. In this review, we discuss the significance of mitochondria and summarize an overview of the recent advances and development of MTT in neurodegenerative and neurovascular disorders, particularly Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and stroke. The significance of MTT is emerging as they meet a critical need to develop a disease-modifying intervention for neurodegenerative and neurovascular disorders.

Mitochondria transplant therapy improves regeneration and restoration of injured skeletal muscle

“…Previous studies have shown that MTT provides healthy donor mitochondria, which enhances repair of ischaemic myocardium, 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 or skeletal muscle 24 and also improves outcomes from neurological diseases. 38 MTT‐treated myoblasts respired similarly to non‐MTT‐treated myoblasts ( Figure S2 ). It was not unexpected that the maximal respiration did not increase in MTT‐treated myoblasts.…”

Mitochondrial Medicine for Neurological Disorders

“…In this article, Khan et al , [ 2 ] explored the current understanding and development of mitochondrial transplantation therapy in several neurodegenerative and neurovascular disorders. Mitochondrial transplantation is an emerging therapeutic strategy for improving neuronal regenerative capacity.…”