FIGURE 8.

Schematic illustration of BNIP3-PINK1 interaction. A, under normal conditions, full-length PINK1 (64 kDa) is synthesized and transported to the mitochondria. Its mitochondrial targeting sequence reaches the IMM followed by enzymatic cleavage resulting in a 55-kDa fragment. The 55-kDa fragment is released to and eventually degraded in the cytoplasm. B, with stress, BNIP3 is up-regulated and interacts with PINK1 to anchor the full-length PINK1 (65 kDa) on the MOM. The PINK1 on MOM recruits parkin from the cytoplasm to activate mitophagy. TOM, translocase of the MOM complex; TIM, translocase of the IMM complex; IMS, mitochondrial intermembrane space.