The missing link: Mul1 signals mitophagy and muscle wasting

Abstract

FoxO3 regulates the transcription of autophagy-related genes that induce mitophagy in muscle wasting. In this issue of Cell Metabolism, Lokireddy et al. (2012) now show that the mitochondrial ubiquitin protein ligase 1 (Mul1) polyubiquitinates the mitochondrial fusion protein Mfn2 and is necessary for FoxO3- and lysosomal-dependent mitophagy in muscle atrophy.