Calcium Dysregulation and Mitochondrial Dysfunction Form A Vicious Cycle in Parkinson’s Disease | Biomedgrid

Mitochondria are not only the “power houses of the cell” but also function as a major Ca2+ buffer in the cell. Mitochondrial dynamics respond to the level of Ca2+ in the cell in order to maintain a beneficial feedback cycle between Ca2+ buffering and mitochondrial dynamics that allows adaption of mitochondrial to the cellular (sub) environment. Mutations in proteins linked to Parkinson's disease (PD) as well as are linked to both mitochondrial dysfunction and Ca2+ dysregulation, which can trap the cell in a vicious cycle. The high energetic demands and high Ca2+ of dopaminergic neurons may explain why this cell type is the most vulnerable to mutations in PD related genes.