OPA1 NGF Sympathetic Marco Erika Camilla Vincenzo Marco

Year: 2026

Authors: Ronfini M., Prando V., Di Mauro V., Dokshokova L., Lazzeri E., Costantini I., Alan L., Riviere EA., Incensi A., Olianti C., La Morgia C., Liguori R., Sacconi L., Donadio V., Scorrano L., Carelli V., Mongillo M., Zaglia T.

Autors Affiliation: Univ Padua, Dept Biomed Sci, Via Ugo Bassi 58-B, I-35122 Padua, Italy; Veneto Inst Mol Med, Padua, Italy; Univ Florence, European Lab Nonlinear Spect, Florence, Italy; Univ Florence, Natl Inst Opt, Natl Res Council, Florence, Italy; Univ Florence, Dept Biol, Florence, Italy; Univ Padua, Dept Biol, Padua, Italy; IRCCS Ist Sci Neurol Bologna, Bologna, Italy; Univ Bologna, Dept Biomed & Neuromotor Sci, Bologna, Italy; CNR, Inst Clin Physiol, Florence, Italy; Univ Freiburg, Univ Heart Ctr, Inst Expt Cardiovasc Med, Freiburg, Germany; Univ Freiburg, Med Fac, Freiburg, Germany; CNR, Inst Neurosci, Padua, Italy; lInterdept Res Ctr Myol cirMYO, Padua, Italy.

Abstract: Peripheral sympathetic neurodegeneration drives cardiac dysfunction in dominant optic atrophy, revealing a critical neuro-cardiac link. Optic atrophy factor-1 haploinsufficiency disrupts mitochondrial dynamics and neurotrophic signaling, causing targeted sympathetic denervation and arrhythmias. Restoring nerve growth factor transport and mitochondrial health in sympathetic neurons represents a promising therapeutic avenue for cardiac autonomic disorders. Future research must unravel mechanisms of neurocardiac crosstalk to develop precise interventions against neurogenic cardiac disease progression. (JACC Basic Transl Sci. 2026;11:101460) (c) 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier on behalf of the American College of Cardiology Foundation. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Journal/Review: JACC-BASIC TO TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE

Volume: 11 (2)      Pages from: 101460-1  to: 101460-19

More Information: Supported by the University of Padova (SID-2022 to Dr Mongillo and Stars grant SKoP to Dr Zaglia.) , and PRIN-20229PX74A to Dr Zaglia. Further support to this work comes from the Ricerca Corrente funding from the Italian Ministry of Health and from the #NEXT-GENERATIONEU (NGEU) funded by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR), National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) , project MNESYS (PE0000006) -A Multiscale integrated approach to the study of the nervous system in health and disease (DN. 1553 11.10.2022) to Dr Carelli, Dr La Morgia, Dr Donadio, and Dr Liguori. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.
KeyWords: dominant optic atrophy; mitochondria; nerve growth factor; optic atrophy factor-1; sympathetic neurons
DOI: 10.1016/j.jacbts.2025.101460