Parthanatos in the pathogenesis of nervous system diseases

•Description of basic parthanatos molecular mechanism.•Involvement of parthanatos in nervous system diseases pathogenesis.•Future perspective for parthanatos-related research. Parthanatos is a modality of regulated cell death initiated by poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1) hyperactivation and characterized by apoptosis inducing factor (AIF)-dependent and microphage migration inhibitory factor (MIF)-dependent DNA degradation. It is a caspase-independent, mitochondrial-linked paradigm of cell death and has been demonstrated to be related to the pathogenesis of various nervous system diseases. An in-depth understanding of the role that parthanatos plays in the pathological processes of these diseases can provide new targets for nervous system diseases treatments. In this review, on the basis of parthanatos mechanism, the involvement of parthanatos in the pathogenesis of nervous system diseases including neurodegenerative disorders, cerebrovascular diseases, spinal cord injury and glioma will be summarized in detail.