5.5. New mitophagy targets, new therapeutic agents
As discussed in section 4, melatonin modulates various signaling
pathways to turn on mitophagy. For instance, melatonin modulates
HSPA1L-PRNP-COX4I1, CGAS-STING1-TBK1, HSPA1L-PRKN, HSPA1L-PRNP-COX4I1,
and NR4A1-PRKDC-TP53 pathways, leading to mitophagy activation and
regulation in healthy mammalian cells. Thus, molecular components of
these pathways are new targets for mitophagy regulation. Given that
therapeutic modulation of these pathways has largely remained
unexplored, new drug-developing approaches should be geared towards
novel pharmaceutical or natural agents for specific targeting of these
pathways.