BNIP3 and medical procedure: Mitochondrial swelling, vesicle formation, and somatic cristae breakage were observed in the CuSO4-induced kidney injury model, nip3-like protein (NIX)/BNIP3 mRNA and protein levels were significantly upregulated, and the number of mitochondrial and lysosomal fluorescent aggregation sites was increased, suggesting that CuSO4 treatment promotes the onset of BNIP3/NIX-mediated mitophagy, and that co-treatment with CuSO4 and an inhibitor of mitophagy significantly exacerbates mitochondrial dysfunction (Bai et al., 2023).