BioCentury
ARTICLE | Cover Story

Fixing mitophagy in Parkinson's disease

July 17, 2014 7:00 AM UTC

Genentech Inc. has identified ubiquitin specific peptidase 30 as a potentially disease-modifying target involved in the clearance of damaged mitochondria in Parkinson's disease.1 The Roche unit now needs to determine whether the deubiquitinase is indeed druggable.

Mitophagy is a form of autophagy that involves ridding cells of damaged mitochondria and is one of the key pathways for maintaining mitochondrial quality control.2,3 Defects in the process can result in the accumulation of damaged mitochondria within cells, leading to increased oxidative stress and cellular dysfunction...