Mutations in the genes PINK1 and Parkin (two significant mitophagy regulators, tightly associated with an early-onset recessive form of PD) strongly contribute to an adaptive immune response (both in the periphery and the brain) by increasing the presentation of mitochondrial antigens and eliciting the establishment of cytotoxic mitochondria-specific CD8+ T cells in a PD Pink1-knockout mice model [190]. Here, PINK1 is linked to Parkinson disease.