Internal medicine

Pathology

Neuroscience

Receptor

Autophagy

Disease

Stroke (engine)

Excitotoxicity

Myocardial infarction

Ischemia

Bioinformatics

Biology

Engineering

Apoptosis

Mitochondrial biogenesis

Tissue plasminogen activator

Brain ischemia

Mitophagy

Thrombolysis

Mitochondrion

Cell biology

Cause of death

Biochemistry

Glutamate receptor

Medicine

Mechanical engineering

Redox Biology

Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability and mortality in most developing and developed countries. The current best practices for patients with acute ischemic stroke include intravenous tissue plasminogen activator and endovascular thrombectomy for large-vessel occlusion to improve clinical outcomes. However, only a limited portion of patients receive thrombolytic therapy or endovascular treatment because the therapeutic time window after ischemic stroke is narrow. To address the current shortage of stroke management approaches, it is critical to identify new potential therapeutic targets. The mitochondrion is an often overlooked target for the clinical treatment of stroke. Early studies of mitochondria focused on their bioenergetic role; however, these organelles are now known to be important in a wide range of cellular functions and signaling events. This review aims to summarize the current knowledge on the mitochondrial molecular mechanisms underlying cerebral ischemia and involved in reactive oxygen species generation and scavenging, electron transport chain dysfunction, apoptosis, mitochondrial dynamics and biogenesis, and inflammation. A better understanding of the roles of mitochondria in ischemia-related neuronal death and protection may provide a rationale for the development of innovative therapeutic regimens for ischemic stroke and other stroke syndromes.

Diverse roles of mitochondria in ischemic stroke