Nature Communications (Aug 2020)

Inhibition of autophagy curtails visual loss in a model of autosomal dominant optic atrophy

  • Marta Zaninello,
  • Konstantinos Palikaras,
  • Deborah Naon,
  • Keiko Iwata,
  • Stephanie Herkenne,
  • Ruben Quintana-Cabrera,
  • Martina Semenzato,
  • Francesca Grespi,
  • Fred N. Ross-Cisneros,
  • Valerio Carelli,
  • Alfredo A. Sadun,
  • Nektarios Tavernarakis,
  • Luca Scorrano

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17821-1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 12

Abstract

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Autosomal dominant optic atrophy is caused by mutations in the mitochondrial fusion protein OPA1. Here, the authors show that AMPK-induced autophagy depletes mitochondria in axons of retinal ganglion cells and that autophagic inhibition reverses vision loss in a mouse model.