PRKN and prion disease: In order to assess whether or not the PINK1/Parkin pathway of mitophagy influences prion disease pathogenesis, mice ablated for the expression of either PINK1 (PINK1KO) [24] or Parkin (ParkinKO) [25], as well as wild-type C57Bl/6 control mice, were inoculated intracranially (IC) with RML prions and monitored for disease.