Table 1.

Glycolysis-TCA cycle associated metabolites and mitophagy

Metabolite	Molecular Formula	Metabolic Precursor	Effect on Mitophagy
Lactate	C3H6O3	Glucose (anaerobic glycolysis)	Lactate antagonizes mitophagy through NR4A1-PRKDC-TP53-BNIP3 axis.
Pyruvate	C3H4O3	Glucose (aerobic glycolysis)	Pyruvate accelerates mitophagy by stabilizing PINK1. Pyruvate sustains the generation of NAD+
Acetyl-CoA	C23H38N7O17P3S	Pyruvate (oxidative decarboxylation) Fatty acid (β-oxidation) Acetate	Acetyl-CoA exhaustion reduces mitochondrial acetylation, leading to PRKN-independent mitophagy. Acetyl-CoA manipulates autophagy via dynamic acetylation of core autophagy proteins.