Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41266657›Full record

ArticleThe EMBO journal2026

A unified mechanism for mitochondrial damage sensing in PINK1-Parkin-mediated mitophagy.

Julia A Thayer, Jennifer D Petersen, Xiaoping Huang, Luiza M Gruel Budet, James Hawrot, Daniel M Ramos, Shiori Sekine, Yan Li, Michael E Ward, Derek P Narendra

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The EMBO journal, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
16citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  4. Regulation and roles of mammalian mitophagy.Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology · 2026
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  9. Quality control of protein import into mammalian mitochondria.Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Julia A ThayerMitochondrial Biology and Neurodegeneration Unit, Neurogenetics Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
Jennifer D Petersen *Mitochondrial Biology and Neurodegeneration Unit, Neurogenetics Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
Xiaoping Huang *Mitochondrial Biology and Neurodegeneration Unit, Neurogenetics Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
Luiza M Gruel BudetMitochondrial Biology and Neurodegeneration Unit, Neurogenetics Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
James HawrotDepartment of Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02912, USA.
Daniel M RamosiPSC Neurodegenerative Disease Initiative, National Institute of Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
Shiori SekineAging Institute, Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15219, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9962-833X
Yan LiProteomics Core Facility, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
Michael E WardInherited Neurodegenerative Diseases Section, Neurogenetics Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
Derek P NarendraMitochondrial Biology and Neurodegeneration Unit, Neurogenetics Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA. derek.narendra@nih.gov.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8696-9108

Funding

Mitochondrial stress responses in neurodegenerationZIANS003169 · NINDS · NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE · PI NARENDRA, DEREK · 2019 to 2025
$18.3M
HHS | National Institutes of Health (NIH) 1ZIANS003169Intramural NIH HHS ZIA NS003169
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Damaged mitochondria can be cleared from the cell by mitophagy, using a pathway formed by the recessive Parkinson's disease genes PINK1 and Parkin. Whether the pathway senses diverse forms of mitochondrial damage via a common mechanism, however, remains uncertain. Here, using a novel Parkin reporter in genome-wide screens, we identified that diverse forms of mitochondrial damage converge on loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) to activate PINK1. Loss of MMP, but not the presequence translocase-associated import motor (PAM), blocked progression of PINK1 import through the translocase of the inner membrane (TIM23), causing it to remain bound to the translocase of the outer membrane (TOM). Ablation of TIM23 was sufficient to arrest PINK1 within TOM, irrespective of MMP. Meanwhile, TOM (including subunit TOMM5) was required for PINK1 retention on the mitochondrial surface. The energy state outside of the mitochondria further modulated the pathway by controlling the rate of new PINK1 synthesis. Together, our findings point to a convergent mechanism of PINK1-Parkin activation by mitochondrial damage: loss of MMP stalls PINK1 import during its transfer from TOM to TIM23.

Indexed as

MitochondriaMitophagyProtein KinasesUbiquitin-Protein LigasesAnimalsHeLa CellsHumansMembrane Potential, MitochondrialMembrane Transport ProteinsMitochondrial Precursor Protein Import Complex ProteinsParkinson DiseasePTEN-Induced Putative KinaseMembrane Transport ProteinsMitochondrial Precursor Protein Import Complex Proteinsparkin proteinProtein KinasesPTEN-Induced Putative KinaseUbiquitin-Protein LigasesAutophagyGlycolysisParkinson’s DiseaseUnfolded Protein Response

Identifiers

PMID41266657
PMCPMC12759083

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.