Mitochondrial Antigen Presentation: A Vacuolar Path to Autoimmunity in Parkinson's Disease.

Mitochondrial antigens can be presented by MHC molecules and initiate adaptive immune responses but the mechanisms of mitochondrial antigen presentation (MitAP) have remained mostly unknown. A recent study proposes a new model whereby MitAP is mediated by a vesicle transport pathway that is suppressed by the Parkinson's disease (PD) associated proteins PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1) and Parkin. This discovery brings a new perspective on the link between mitochondrial dysfunction and autoimmunity in PD.