A new start for mitophagy

The recycling of damaged or surplus organelles by autophagy is crucial to maintaining cellular fitness. Dysregulation of mitophagy, in particular, is linked to Parkinson’s disease. A new study by postdoc Elias Adriaenssens (Martens lab), published in Nature Cell Biology, reveals a new mechanism for mitophagy initiation – showing that conventional downstream autophagy proteins, specifically WIPI proteins, are sometimes required in the early steps of autophagosome biogenesis. The discovery provokes a reconsideration of the hierarchy of factors in autophagy initiation. The study is part of the ‘Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP)’ scientific collaboration network.