Pink1/Parkin-mediated mitophagy regulated the apoptosis of dendritic cells in sepsis

Abstract Although the Pink1/Parkin-mediated mitophagy is closely related to inflammation and immunoregulation, its effect on apoptosis of splenic dendritic cells (DCs) in sepsis remains unknown. Here, our current study demonstrates that mitophagy is enhanced, and apoptosis of DCs is increased during sepsis in Wild Type (WT) mice. It also shows that mitophagy occurs in the process of the sepsis-induced apoptosis of DCs. Moreover, the level of mitophagy of Pink1-knockout (Pink1-KO) mice is lower than that of WT mice, while the apoptosis of DCs of Pink1-KO mice is increased further more than that of WT mice during sepsis. The mitochondrial dysfunction in DCs is aggravated in Pink1-KO mice during sepsis, which suggests that Pink1/Parkin-mediated mitophagy regulates the apoptosis of DCs by improving mitochondrial function. Thus, an impaired Pink1/Parkin-mediated mitophagy exacerbates the apoptosis of DCs and it might represent a novel therapeutic target to prevent sepsis in the future.