In many metazoan cell types, mitophagy is regulated by PTEN-induced putative kinase protein 1 (PINK1) and PARKIN, a RING-HECT hybrid E3 ubiquitin ligase (which have no yeast homolog), and loss-of-function mutations in two genes encoding these proteins are linked to Parkinson’s disease (PD), the second most common neurodegenerative disease in humans. This evidence concerns the gene PINK1 and neurodegenerative disease.