Parkin-mediated selective mitochondrial autophagy, mitophagy: Parkin purges damaged organelles from the vital mitochondrial network

Tanaka, Atsushi

doi:10.1016/j.febslet.2010.02.060

« Previous Next »FEBS Letters
Volume 584, Issue 7 , Pages 1386-1392, 2 April 2010

Parkin-mediated selective mitochondrial autophagy, mitophagy: Parkin purges damaged organelles from the vital mitochondrial network

Edited by Noboru Mizushima

Biochemistry Section, Surgical Neurology Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bldg: 35, Rm: 2C-915, MSC 3704, Bethesda, MD 20892-3704, USA

Received 22 December 2009; received in revised form 19 February 2010; accepted 23 February 2010. published online 25 February 2010.

Abstract

Cellular homeostasis is linked tightly to mitochondrial functions. Some damage to mitochondrial proteins and nucleic acids can lead to the depolarization of the inner mitochondrial membrane, thereby sensitizing impaired mitochondria for selective elimination by autophagy. Mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the key aspects of the pathobiology of neurodegenerative disease. Parkin, an E3 ligase located in the cytosol and originally discovered as mutated in monogenic forms of Parkinson’s disease (PD), was found recently to translocate specifically to uncoupled mitochondria and to induce their autophagy.

Keywords: Parkin, Parkinson’s disease, Mitophagy, Mitochondrial quality control, PINK1