Figure 1.

Schematic depiction of putative roles for the PINK1 -MFN2-PARK2 mitophagy pathway, PPARGC1A-directed biogenesis, and mitochondrial fusion mediated by MFN1 and MFN2 in the perinatal transition from fetal to adult heart metabolism. Our recent study defined the PARK2 pathway's mechanism. The role of PPARGC1A and biogenesis was inferred from mRNA expression profiling results. We hypothesize that mitochondrial fusion can be a mechanism for distributing biogenically synthesized adult components throughout the mitochondrial pool.