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  • Letter
  • Published:

Parkin and PINK1 mitigate STING-induced inflammation

24 June 2021 Editor’s Note: We wish to alert readers to the fact that concerns have been raised regarding the data presented in Fig. 3a–c of this Letter, which we are investigating. Appropriate editorial action will be taken once this matter is resolved.

Abstract

Although serum from patients with Parkinson’s disease contains elevated levels of numerous pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-6, TNF, IL-1β, and IFNγ, whether inflammation contributes to or is a consequence of neuronal loss remains unknown1. Mutations in parkin, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, and PINK1, a ubiquitin kinase, cause early onset Parkinson’s disease2,3. Both PINK1 and parkin function within the same biochemical pathway and remove damaged mitochondria from cells in culture and in animal models via mitophagy, a selective form of autophagy4. The in vivo role of mitophagy, however, is unclear, partly because mice that lack either PINK1 or parkin have no substantial Parkinson’s-disease-relevant phenotypes5,6,7. Mitochondrial stress can lead to the release of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) that can activate innate immunity8,9,10,11,12, suggesting that mitophagy may mitigate inflammation. Here we report a strong inflammatory phenotype in both Prkn −/− and Pink1 −/− mice following exhaustive exercise and in Prkn −/−;mutator mice, which accumulate mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)13,14. Inflammation resulting from either exhaustive exercise or mtDNA mutation is completely rescued by concurrent loss of STING, a central regulator of the type I interferon response to cytosolic DNA15,16. The loss of dopaminergic neurons from the substantia nigra pars compacta and the motor defect observed in aged Prkn −/−;mutator mice are also rescued by loss of STING, suggesting that inflammation facilitates this phenotype. Humans with mono- and biallelic PRKN mutations also display elevated cytokines. These results support a role for PINK1- and parkin-mediated mitophagy in restraining innate immunity.

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Fig. 1: Inflammation and mitophagy in Prkn −/− and Pink1 −/− mice.
Fig. 2: Inflammation in Prkn −/− and Pink1 −/− mice following EE is completely rescued by loss of STING.
Fig. 3: Increased circulating mtDNA in Prkn −/− mice; IFNAR1-blocking antibody treatment blocks inflammation.
Fig. 4: Loss of STING prevents inflammation, motor defect and neurodegeneration in the Prkn −/−;mutator mice.

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  • 24 June 2021

    Editor’s Note: We wish to alert readers to the fact that concerns have been raised regarding the data presented in Fig. 3a–c of this Letter, which we are investigating. Appropriate editorial action will be taken once this matter is resolved.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the animal husbandry staff at NINDS and the staff of the Murine Phenotyping Core Facility at NHLBI; the Clinical Pathology Group in the Cellular & Molecular Pathology Branch at NIEHS for serum creatine kinase; K. Gerrish and B. Elgart from the NIEHS Molecular Genomics Core for serum mitochondrial and nuclear DNA isolation and quantification; J. Vargas and S. Humble for experimental assistance and T. Finkel, J. Kowalak, A. Oberst and M. Ward for helpful suggestions. This work was supported by the NINDS Intramural Research Program (R.J.Y.), NIH Intramural Research Program 1ZIAES10328601 (J.M.), the NIA Intramural Research Program (H.C.) the DFG FOR2488; P2 and a Pilot Grant from the Excellence Cluster Inflammation at Interfaces (C.K.), and by a career development award from the Hermann and Lilly Schilling Foundation (C.K.).

Reviewer information

Nature thanks Z. Chen, I. Dikic and the other anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

The project was conceived by D.A.S., J.M. and R.J.Y. Mouse experiments including EE, sample collection and behavioural studies were conducted by D.A.S. Serum analysis was performed by J.M. Mass spectrometry was performed by L.H. and Y.L. Neuron counting was performed by X.C. and H.C. mt-Keima analysis was performed by N.S. LRRK2 mutant mice were exercised by T.D.F. J.L.B. and Z.Z. provided technical assistance. Human patient samples were provided by D.P.N., M.B. and C.K. Writing and editing by D.A.S., J.M., C.K. and R.J.Y. Funding was provided to J.M., H.C, D.P.N, C.K. and R.J.Y.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Richard J. Youle.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Extended data figures and tables

Extended Data Fig. 1 Inflammation in Prkn −/− and Pink1 −/− mice.

a, d, Heat maps depicting average cytokine concentration in serum from mice (n = 10). b, Average time to exhaustion on each trial day. Small graphs show individual run times (n = 10). c, pS65-ubiquitin in Prkn −/− heart tissue expressed as fmol per mg total protein (n = 3). ek, Serum cytokine concentrations from EE mice are plotted as mean ± s.d. (n = 10). l, Heat map depicting serum cytokine levels of Lrrk2 G2019S/G2019S (n = 4). Using t-tests, no differences in cytokine concentrations were found between pre-trial (baseline) and post-trial (immediate). ns, not significant.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 2 Inflammatory cytokines are increased in mice and humans with heterozygous loss of parkin or PINK1.

af, Serum cytokine concentrations from Prkn −/+ (n = 4) and Pink1 −/+ (n = 6) EE mice. gi, Serum cytokine concentrations from human control (HC) (n = 62), PINK1 heterozygotes (P1H) (n = 6), unaffected PRKN heterozygotes (UPH) (n = 7), affected PRKN biallelic mutants (APB) (n = 7) and patients with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (IPD) (n = 9). Data are mean ± s.d.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 3 Loss of STING prevents increased cytokine levels in Prkn −/− and Pink1 −/−mice following EE.

a, Average time to exhaustion on each trial day (n = 6). b, c, Heat map depicting the average baseline serum cytokine concentration for EE mice (n = 6) and the average serum cytokines from SED mice (n = 6). di, Serum cytokine concentrations from mice are plotted as mean ± s.d. (n = 6 baseline, post-trial immediate; n = 3, post-trial 2 days, post-trial 6 days).

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 4 cGAMP is increased in Prkn −/− and Pink1 −/− EE heart tissue and inflammation is inhibited by anti-IFNAR1 treatment.

a, Representative plot of signal intensity for cGAMP measured in heart tissue. cGAMP was not detected in wild-type EE or in SED mice. Average signal intensity for n = 3 samples is shown in the inset. b, Average time to exhaustion on each trial day (n = 6). cg, Serum cytokine concentrations from EE Prkn −/− mice treated with anti-IFNAR1 antibody or IgG control (n = 6). Data are mean ± s.d.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 5 Elevated serum creatine kinase following EE in Prkn −/− and Pink1 −/− mice is not rescued by inhibition of inflammation and is not increased by chronic mitochondrial dysfunction.

ac, Serum creatine kinase (CK) levels (n < 3). Data are mean ± s.d.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 6 Inflammation in aged Prkn −/−;mutator mice is rescued by loss of STING.

ah, Serum cytokine concentrations from 12, 20 and 40-week-old mice (n = 4, 6). Data are mean ± s.d.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 7 STING mediates inflammation under chronic mitochondrial stress.

a, b, Copy number per μl of cell-free mtDNA (ND1) or nuclear DNA (ACTB) in serum (n < 3). c, Ratio of mtDNA to nuclear DNA. (n < 3). d, The time required for 12-week-old mice to descend the pole (n = 6). e, TH+-neurons counted by stereology in the substantia nigra (SNc) of 52-week-old mice (n = 3). f, Representative images of TH+ neurons (green) and total neurons (NeuN, red). g, Serum levels of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) 6 weeks post-EE. dsDNA antibodies were not detected and ANAs were not detected at baseline or immediately post-EE (n = 4, 6). h, Serum levels of anti-dsDNA antibodies (n = 4, 6). ANA antibodies were not detected. Data are mean ± s.d. (n = 6).

Source data

Supplementary information

Supplementary Table

Clinical information relevant to human samples. The file provides information relevant to the human samples presented in Fig.2a and Extended Data Fig. 2g-i, including whether the patient is affected with PD or unaffected, the nature of the mutation identified, the year of diagnosis, age at examination and the IL-6 values reported. 5 patient samples are not graphed and these are indicated with an asterisk.

Reporting Summary

Video 1

Pole Test of a representative 40-week-old Prkn -/-;mutator mouse. The video shows a representative Pole Test performed by a 40-week-old Prkn -/-; mutator mouse. As the Prkn -/-;mutator mouse fails to descend the pole in 180 seconds, the video speed was increased 20x. This video pertains to data presented in Figure 4d.

Video 2

Pole Test of 40-week-old Prkn -/-;mutator;STINGgt/gt mouse. The video shows a representative Pole Test performed by a 40-week-old Prkn -/-; mutator;STINGgt/gt mouse. This video pertains to data presented in Figure 4d.

Video 3

Pole Test of 40-week-old WT mouse. The video shows a representative Pole Test performed by a 40-week-old WT mouse. This video pertains to data presented in Figure 4d.

Source data

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Sliter, D.A., Martinez, J., Hao, L. et al. Parkin and PINK1 mitigate STING-induced inflammation. Nature 561, 258–262 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0448-9

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