APPW2025

Oranizers :Hirotaka Nagai (Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Division of Pharmacology) and Mutsumi Yokota (Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine)

Mitochondria are intracellular organelles with diverse functions such as energy metabolism, signal transduction, calcium buffering, and organelle contact, and are involved in the regulation of neuronal function, cell death, and inflammation. Although the involvement of mitochondria in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders has been suggested, its mechanisms are largely elusive. This symposium will discuss mechanisms at the cellular level where maintenance of mitochondrial quality control or its failure induces or suppresses neuronal cell death, mechanisms at the individual level where environmental and genetic factors alter mitochondria and metabolism leading to cognitive and emotional disturbances, and prospects for drug discovery through mitochondrial function and metabolic control. Members of the Japanese Pharmacological Society and the Japanese Association of Anatomists will gather to overview the diverse physiological functions of mitochondria governing cell life and death, and brain functions, aiming to take a step toward a comprehensive understanding of the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders.