Parkin degrades estrogen-related receptors to limit the expression of monoamine oxidases

Parkin, whose mutations cause Parkinson disease (PD), controls oxidative stress by limiting the expression of monoamine oxidases (MAO)-mitochondrial enzymes responsible for the oxidative de-amination of dopamine. Here, we show that parkin performed this function by increasing the ubiquitination and degradation of estrogen-related receptors (ERR), orphan nuclear receptors that play critical roles in the transcription regulation of many nuclear-encoded mitochondrial proteins. All three ERRs (alpha, beta and gamma) increased the transcription of MAOs A and B; the effects were abolished by parkin, but not by its PD-linked mutants. Parkin bound to ERRs and increased their ubiquitination and degradation. In fibroblasts from PD patients with parkin mutations or brain slices from parkin knockout mice, degradation of ERRs was significantly attenuated. The results reveal the molecular mechanism by which parkin suppresses the transcription of MAOs to control oxidative stress induced by dopamine oxidation.