PINK1/Parkin in Neurodegenerative Disorders: Crosstalk Between Mitochondrial Stress and Neurodegeneration

Protein Quality Control By Autophagy

Inside the cellular environment processes essential for the survival of the cells as well as the organism as a whole goes on continuously. These processes include energy generation mechanism, biological macromolecules utilization, synthesis of proteins, intercellular or intracellular transportation of essential molecules and new cells as well as new cell organelles generation. Sometimes these processes undergo alterations or deviations from the defined procedures or mechanism leading to the formation of defective end products of the process. It is necessary to remove such products for maintaining the hemostatic condition within the cell. The cell organelles also undergo wear and tear resulting in damage and these damaged ones are again needed to remove on an urgent basis to be replaced by the new or healthy ones. The process which ensures removal of such useless biological material or molecules is called autophagy.

Autophagy mechanism is accountable for removing dysfunctional proteins, unutilized biological macromolecules, damages or disfigured cell organelles, foreign biological material, and pathogens that invaded the cells. Different pathological proteins involved in neurodegeneration as shown in Table 1.