Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Mitochondrial Cascades in Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

Energy metabolism maintains energy homeostasis at subcellular, cellular, organ, and whole organism levels. System failures, which may arise at or within mitochondria, adversely affect health and viability and associate with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Understanding the origins, causes, and consequences of AD energy metabolism, bioenergetic, or mitochondrial dysfunction can help identify therapeutic targets and guide treatment design. Interventions designed and intended to manipulate energy metabolism, bioenergetic function, and mitochondria increasingly are appearing and their development is playing out at basic, translational, and clinical levels. This presentation will review evolving views of energy metabolism’s role in AD; potential therapeutic strategies for AD; and general challenges faced by this emerging field.