Parkinson's disease: connecting mitochondria to inflammasomes

Parkinson's disease (PD)-associated neurotoxins and mutations induce mitochondrial fission in vitro.Inducible mitochondrial fission promotes myeloid cell expression of proinflammatory mediators such as the inflammasome substrate pro-IL-1β.Emerging evidence highlights the microglial NLRP3 inflammasome as an important driver of PD pathology.Pharmacological inhibition of either mitochondrial fission or NLRP3 function has provided neuroprotective benefit in several rodent models of PD.