Key result
Targeting TSPO with specific ligands shows promise for managing cardiac disorders and mitochondrial dysfunction.
Why the study?
Mitochondrial pathophysiologic involvement in heart disease manifestations remains under investigation, and currently only a few translocator protein (TSPO) ligands are employed in cardiac disorders and imaging.
TSPO is a promising target for novel therapeutic and diagnostic strategies in cardiology, particularly in imaging cardiovascular inflammation and protecting against ischemia-reperfusion injury.
Mitochondria dysfunctions are typical hallmarks of cardiac disorders (CDs). The multiple tasks of this energy-producing organelle are well documented, but its pathophysiologic involvement in several manifestations of heart diseases, such as altered electromechanical coupling, excitability, and arrhythmias, is still under investigation. The human 18 kDa translocator protein (TSPO) is a protein located on the outer mitochondrial membrane whose expression is altered in different pathological conditions, including CDs, making it an attractive therapeutic and diagnostic target. Currently, only a few TSPO ligands are employed in CDs and cardiac imaging. In this Perspective, we report an overview of the emerging role of TSPO at the heart level, focusing on the recent literature concerning the development of TSPO ligands used for fighting and imaging heart-related disease conditions. Accordingly, targeting TSPO might represent a successful strategy to achieve novel therapeutic and diagnostic strategies to unravel the fundamental mechanisms and to provide solutions to still unanswered questions in CDs.
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Baglini et al. (2023) conducted a review in Cardiac disorders and mitochondrial dysfunction. TSPO ligands was evaluated. Targeting the translocator protein (TSPO) with specific ligands emerges as a promising diagnostic and therapeutic strategy for cardiac disorders and mitochondrial dysfunction.
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