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Mechanisms of mitophagy

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 12, pages 9–14 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Autophagy not only recycles intracellular components to compensate for nutrient deprivation but also selectively eliminates organelles to regulate their number and maintain quality control. Mitophagy, the specific autophagic elimination of mitochondria, has been identified in yeast, mediated by autophagy-related 32 (Atg32), and in mammals during red blood cell differentiation, mediated by NIP3-like protein X (NIX; also known as BNIP3L). Moreover, mitophagy is regulated in many metazoan cell types by parkin and PTEN-induced putative kinase protein 1 (PINK1), and mutations in the genes encoding these proteins have been linked to forms of Parkinson's disease.

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Figure 1: Non-selective autophagy and mitophagy have different roles.
Figure 2: The Atg32, NIX and PINK1–parkin pathways of mitophagy.

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Acknowledgements

We thank H. Abeliovich for valuable discussions and D. Suen for the movie that is used in Supplementary information 1. D.P.N. is a member of the US National Institutes of Health–Oxford–Cambridge Scholars Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Richard J. Youle and Derek P. Narendra are at the Biochemistry Section, Surgical Neurology Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, 35 Convent Drive, 2C-917, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.,

    Richard J. Youle & Derek P. Narendra

  2. Derek P. Narendra is also at the Medical Research Council Mitochondrial Biology Unit, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 2XY, UK.,

    Derek P. Narendra

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Correspondence to Richard J. Youle.

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Youle, R., Narendra, D. Mechanisms of mitophagy. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 12, 9–14 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm3028

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