Pathogenic mutations that disrupt the AFG3L2 quality control complex are associated with human diseases: hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), spastic ataxia (SPAX5), spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA28), and progressive external ophthalmoplegia (PEO) (Casari et al, 1998; Di Bella et al, 2010; Pierson et al, 2011; Gorman et al, 2015). Here, AFG3L2 is linked to spastic ataxia.