Parkin recruitment to impaired mitochondria for nonselective ubiquitylation is facilitated by MITOL [Membrane Biology]

PINK1 (PARK6) and PARKIN (PARK2) are causal genes of recessive familial Parkinson's disease. Parkin is a ubiquitin ligase E3 that conjugates ubiquitin to impaired mitochondrial proteins for organelle degradation. PINK1, a Ser/Thr kinase that accumulates only on impaired mitochondria, phosphorylates two authentic substrates, the ubiquitin-like domain of Parkin and ubiquitin. Our group and others have revealed that both the subcellular localization and ligase activity of Parkin are regulated through interactions with phosphorylated ubiquitin. Once PINK1 localizes on impaired mitochondria, PINK1-catalyzed phosphoubiquitin recruits and activates Parkin. Parkin then supplies a ubiquitin chain to PINK1 for phosphorylation. The amplified ubiquitin functions as a signal for the sequestration and degradation of the damaged mitochondria. Although a bewildering variety of Parkin substrates have been reported, the basis for Parkin substrate specificity remains poorly understood. Moreover, the mechanism underlying initial activation and translocation of Parkin onto mitochondria remains unclear, because the presence of ubiquitin on impaired mitochondria is thought to be a prerequisite for the initial PINK1 phosphorylation process. Here, we show that artificial mitochondria-targeted proteins are ubiquitylated by Parkin, suggesting that substrate specificity of Parkin is not determined by its amino acid sequence. Moreover, recruitment and activation of Parkin are delayed following depletion ...
Source: Journal of Biological Chemistry - Category: Chemistry Authors: Tags: Cell Biology Source Type: research