Mitophagy

Mitophagy is a specific form of autophagy where mitochondria are specifically targeted for degradation by autophagolysosomes. In mammals there are a number of known mechanisms of mitophagy. One ensures maternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA through the elimination of sperm derived mitochondria. A second is elimination of functional mitochondria during erythrocyte maturation and eye lens maturation. It is established that the outer mitochondrial membrane receptor Nix (or Bnip3l) and autophagosome associated protein LC3 are important for mitochondrial degradation in erythrocytes. A third mechanism is driven by the PINK1 and Parkin (PRKN) proteins. PRKN is recruited to the mitochondria when the mitochondrial membrane potential is reduced due to uncoupling, thereby initiating mitophagy.

Summary from Reactome (R-HSA-5205647), read 2026-09-23.