Mitochondrial quality control in cardiomyocytes: safeguarding the heart against disease and ageing.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review of mechanistic pathways without systematic review methodology or new human data
PubMed 40113864 · doi:10.1038/s41569-025-01142-1
What was done
This is a narrative review summarizing current knowledge on mitochondrial quality control mechanisms in cardiomyocytes, including protein chaperones, resident proteases, mitophagy, and vesicular ejection. It discusses how these pathways become impaired during aging and cardiovascular disease, contributing to heart failure, and evaluates the therapeutic potential of targeting these processes.
What was found
No quantitative findings, sample sizes, or numerical results are reported in the abstract. The authors describe qualitative mechanistic pathways: loss of mitochondrial quality control leads to reactive oxygen species generation, inflammation, and cardiomyocyte death, whereas maintaining these quality control layers preserves cardiac contractile function.
Why it matters
It synthesizes the biological mechanisms connecting organelle-level quality control in post-mitotic cardiomyocytes to heart failure and cardiac aging, outlining potential molecular targets for cardioprotective drug development.
Limits
The paper is a narrative review rather than a systematic review or meta-analysis, reporting no original experimental or clinical data. Findings reflect preclinical and mechanistic paradigms that require further validation in human clinical trials.
Cited by
- supports Cardiac biopsies from patients who have heart failure or died of cardiac degeneration show poor mitochondrial health as a hallmark signature.