CNS neuroscience & therapeutics
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Disturbance of the balance between mitochondrial fission and fusion has been implicated in cerebral ischemia and several neurodegenerative diseases, whereas the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In the present study, we attempted to investigate the role of dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1), a key mitochondrial fission protein, in the pathogenesis of cerebral ischemia. ⋯ Down-regulation or inhibition of Drp1 may reduce cerebral ischemic damage through maintaining normal mitochondrial morphology and function, and decreasing Bax insertion and oligomerization in mitochondria.