Parkin (PRKN)

Parkin (encoded by the PARK2 gene) is an E3 ubiquitin ligase best known for its role in PINK1-dependent mitophagy — the selective autophagic clearance of damaged mitochondria — and for its mutation in autosomal recessive juvenile Parkinson’s disease. Beyond this canonical role, Parkin is frequently lost or epigenetically silenced in human cancers and has been characterized as a multi-substrate tumor suppressor: it ubiquitinates diverse protein substrates, independent of its mitophagy function, to restrain processes such as cell motility and metastasis, and to activate antitumor innate and adaptive immune signaling.