Ubiquitination of ABCE1 by NOT4 in Response to Mitochondrial Damage Links Co-translational Quality Control to PINK1-Directed Mitophagy.

Translation of mRNAs is tightly regulated and constantly surveyed for errors. Aberrant translation can trigger co-translational protein and RNA quality control processes， impairments of which cause neurodegeneration by still poorly understood mechanism(s). Here we show that quality control of translation of mitochondrial outer membrane (MOM)-localized mRNA intersects with the turnover of damaged mitochondria， both orchestrated by the mitochondrial kinase PINK1. Mitochondrial damage causes stalled translation of complex-I 30 kDa subunit (C-I30) mRNA on MOM， triggering the recruitment of co-translational quality control factors Pelo， ABCE1， and NOT4 to the ribosome/mRNA-ribonucleoprotein complex. Damage-induced ubiquitination of ABCE1 by NOT4 generates poly-ubiquitin signals that attract autophagy receptors to MOM to initiate mitophagy. In the Drosophila PINK1 model， these factors act synergistically to restore mitophagy and neuromuscular tissue integrity. Thus ribosome-associated co-translational quality control generates an early signal to trigger mitophagy. Our results have broad therapeutic implications for the understanding and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.