Mitochondrial ROS-Modulated mtDNA: A Potential Target for Cardiac Aging

Figure 3

The regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis by the PGC-1α-NRF1-TFAM pathway. PGC-1α is activated via phosphorylation by AMPK, deacetylation by Sirtuin, and p38 MAPK. Activated PGC-1α and NRF1/2 result in the synthesis of TFAM. TFAM is a mitochondrial transcriptional regulator encoded by nDNA. Then, TFAM is imported into mitochondria to stabilize mtDNA and enhance the synthesis of subunits of ETC encoded by mtDNA, leading to transcription and replication of mtDNA.