Parkinson’s
disease (PD) is a first most common motor neurodegenerative disorder and caused
due to degeneration of dopaminergic neurons of nigrostriatal pathway of brain.
Brain is the most active organ of human body which receives, process and
command the responses utilizing approximately twenty percent of body’s total
energy. Mitochondrion is the cellular powerhouse produces ATP by utilizing various
complexes of electron transport chain. This ATP is the energy source of cells and
is being used for physiological functions of the cells, indicating the critical
role of mitochondrial functionality in cellular physiology. In PD pathology the
impaired bioenergetics is the known and critical factor which essentially
requires for cellular physiological responses and failed to maintain it will lead
to self-destruction of cell, termed as apoptosis. Neuronal apoptosis is the
inescapable event in PD pathology and suggest the implications of cellular
bioenergetics and the close conjunction of mitochondrion functionality and
disease pathology. In this chapter mitochondrion functionality and its correlation
with various neurodegenerative signalling pathways during PD pathology will be
discussed.
Keywords: Mitochondrial dysfunction, Neurodegeneration, Parkinson’s disease (PD), Pathology.
