Mitophagy pathway, illustration - Stockillustratie

Mitophagy pathway. Illustration of the outer membrane of a mitochondrion with PTEN-induced kinase 1 (PINK1, pink) and ubiquitin (yellow) molecules bound to it, some of which have recruited Parkin proteins (red). Mitochondria are organelles that produce energy for a cell. Healthy mitochondria process PINK1, clearing it from their outer membrane. Damaged mitochondria are unable to process PINK1, leading to it accumulating on their outer membrane. This identifies the mitochondrion as damaged and starts a signalling pathway that begins with PINK1 phosphorylating (orange) ubiquitin, which in turn recruits Parkin. PINK1 and ubiquitin then activate Parkin, leading to the formation of ubiquitin chains on the membrane. This ubiquitination triggers the degradation of the mitochondrion (mitophagy)