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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Feb 1.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2017 Oct 4;19(2):121–135. doi: 10.1038/nrm.2017.95

Figure 3. Regulation of mitochondrial homeostasis by AMPK.

Figure 3

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) directly phosphorylates mitochondrial fission factor (MFF) to regulate mitochondrial fission through dynamin-like protein DRP1 and activates ULK1, the upstream kinase in autophagy and mitophagy. Mitochondrial fission is required for mitophagy and allows damaged mitochondria to be degraded by mitophagy. During energy stress, AMPK also activates peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) co-activator 1α (PGC1α), which activates mitochondrial biogenesis genes through interaction with PPARγ or oestrogen-related receptors (ERRs). The dashed arrow indicates potentially indirect regulation.