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The Role of Mitophagy in Glaucomatous Neurodegeneration
by Dimitrios Stavropoulos 1,2,Manjot K. Grewal 3,4,Bledi Petriti 3,5,Kai-Yin Chau 5ORCID,Christopher J. Hammond 6,7,David F. Garway-Heath 3ORCID andGerassimos Lascaratos 1,6,*ORCID
1
Department of Ophthalmology, King’s College Hospital, London SE5 9RS, UK
2
Department of Ophthalmology, 417 Veterans Army Hospital (NIMTS), 11521 Athens, Greece
3
NIHR Biomedical Research Center, Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London EC1V 9EL, UK
4
Division of Optometry and Visual Science, School of Health Sciences, City, University of London, London EC1V 0HB, UK
5
Department of Clinical & Movement Neurosciences, UCL Queens Square Institute of Neurology, London NW3 2PF, UK
6
Section of Ophthalmology, School of Life Course Sciences, King’s College London, London SE1 7EH, UK
7
Department of Ophthalmology, St Thomas’ Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Cells 2023, 12(15), 1969; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12151969
Received: 3 June 2023 / Revised: 15 July 2023 / Accepted: 19 July 2023 / Published: 30 July 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Research on the Role of Mitochondria in Neurodegeneration)
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Abstract
This review aims to provide a better understanding of the emerging role of mitophagy in glaucomatous neurodegeneration, which is the primary cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Increasing evidence from genetic and other experimental studies suggests that mitophagy-related genes are implicated in the pathogenesis of glaucoma in various populations. The association between polymorphisms in these genes and increased risk of glaucoma is presented. Reduction in intraocular pressure (IOP) is currently the only modifiable risk factor for glaucoma, while clinical trials highlight the inadequacy of IOP-lowering therapeutic approaches to prevent sight loss in many glaucoma patients. Mitochondrial dysfunction is thought to increase the susceptibility of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) to other risk factors and is implicated in glaucomatous degeneration. Mitophagy holds a vital role in mitochondrial quality control processes, and the current review explores the mitophagy-related pathways which may be linked to glaucoma and their therapeutic potential
