New imaging and biomarker techniques now enable in vivo study of mitophagy with higher spatial and temporal resolution, supporting personalized medicine and assessment of therapeutic efficacy.

Mitophagy intersects with immune regulation, shaping inflammatory responses and immune cell metabolism, offering avenues to treat autoimmune diseases and chronic inflammation.

The overarching message: understanding and precisely modulating mitophagy could transform disease management and promote health and longevity.

In cancer, mitophagy plays a dual role: it can prevent tumor initiation by clearing dysfunctional mitochondria but can also help established tumors survive metabolic stress and resist chemotherapy, necessitating nuanced strategies.

Cardiovascular health hinges on mitochondrial quality control, with defective mitophagy driving hypertrophy, heart failure, and ischemic injury, pointing to cardiac-protective mitophagy modulators.

Efforts in drug development—spanning small molecules, peptides, and gene therapy—aim to modulate mitophagy pathways, though precise targeting to minimize off-target effects remains a key challenge.

Mitophagy is a central quality-control process that selectively removes damaged mitochondria to maintain cellular homeostasis, with wide-reaching implications for health and disease.

As a master regulator of cellular health, mitophagy holds significant therapeutic potential across neurodegenerative, metabolic, cardiovascular, immunological, oncological, and infectious diseases.

Mitophagy influences metabolic diseases by shaping mitochondrial function in liver and adipose tissue; impaired clearance promotes insulin resistance and inflammation, while enhancing mitophagy may improve metabolic parameters.

Pathogens interact with mitophagy in diverse ways, informing antiviral and antibacterial strategies through host mitochondrial quality-control dynamics.

The PINK1/Parkin axis and alternative mitophagy signals coordinate tagging and degradation of damaged mitochondria, revealing multiple regulatory nodes for potential therapy.

Dysregulated mitophagy is linked to neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, contributing to neuronal loss, chronic inflammation, and cognitive decline, underscoring the need to restore mitophagic flux.