Mitophagy and Cellular Homeostasis in Kidney Diseases: Mechanisms and Potential Therapeutics

Mitochondrial homeostasis has attracted increasing interest and is now recognized as playing a significant role in both kidney development and the progression of kidney disease. Among these, the latest approach, mitophagy, has been shown to be activated dynamically and reversibly under various physiological conditions, including reactive oxygen stress, nutrient deficiency, and cellular senescence(definition), to maintain mitochondrial homeostasis and function. Moreover, findings indicate that mitophagy can also maintain mitochondrial quality through interactions and mutual regulation with mitochondrial dynamics. Crucially, a growing number of kidney diseases, such as acute kidney injury, diabetic kidney disease, and other chronic kidney diseases, are linked to abnormal levels of mitophagy. In this review, we comprehensively examined the vital role of mitophagy in kidney diseases, discussed the potential of mitophagy-targeted therapies, and described the detailed alterations in specific mitophagy-related proteins associated with kidney diseases.