Fig. 2
From: Extracellular release in the quality control of the mammalian mitochondria
Mitochondria Extracellular Release as a Quality Control Mechanism. a. Damaged mitochondria are selectively transported to migrasomes through retraction fibers and released. b. (1) Neurons are able to deliver damaged mitochondria to adjacent astrocytes for their degradation. (2) Meanwhile, astrocytes can deliver functional mitochondria back to neurons in order to compensate for malfunctioning mitochondria. (3) When neurons suffer from undesirable conditions, Schwann cells can release mtDNA and cytochrome C as warnings to inform neurons of potential danger and degeneration. c. Mitochondria quality control in cardiomyocytes occurs through two pathways. One, cardiomyocytes can release damaged mitochondria to cardiac macrophage through exophers for degradation. Two, the damaged mitochondria can also be degraded by mitophagy. Figure created with BioRender.com