Parkin, also called Parkinson juvenile disease protein 2, is an RBR-type E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase that is associated with recessive early onset Parkinson's disease (PD), and exerts a protective effect against dopamine-induced alpha-synuclein-dependent cell toxicity. Mutations in the parkin gene cause autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism. Parkin functions within a multiprotein E3 ubiquitin ligase complex, catalyzing the covalent attachment of ubiquitin moieties onto substrate proteins, such as BCL2, SYT11, CCNE1, GPR37, RHOT1/MIRO1, MFN1, MFN2, STUB1, SNCAIP, SEPT5, TOMM20, USP30, ZNF746 and AIMP2. It mediates monoubiquitination as well as Lys6-, Lys11-, Lys48- and Lys63-linked polyubiquitination of substrates depending on the context. Parkin may enhance cell viability and protects dopaminergic neurons from oxidative stress-mediated death by regulating mitochondrial function. It also limits the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and regulates cyclin-E during neuronal apoptosis. Moreover, parkin displays a ubiquitin ligase-independent function in transcriptional repression of p53. Parkin contains an N-terminal ubiquitin-like domain and a C-terminal RBR domain that was previously known as RING-BetweenRING-RING domain or TRIAD [two RING fingers and a DRIL (double RING finger linked)] domain. Based on current understanding of the structural biology of RBR ligases, the nomenclature of RBR has been changed to RING1-BRcat (benign-catalytic)-Rcat (required-for-catalysis) recently. The RBR domain uses an auto-inhibitory mechanism to modulate ubiquitination activity, as well as a hybrid mechanism that combines aspects from both RING and HECT E3 ligase functions to facilitate the ubiquitination reaction. This model corresponds to the BRcat domain of parkin that adopts the same fold as the Rcat domain while lacking the catalytic cysteine residue and ubiquitination activity.
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