Mitophagy is induced by short ubiquitin chains on mitochondria

Mitophagy has a critical role in maintaining cellular homeostasis by removing damaged mitochondria. In this issue, Yamano et al. (2020. J. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201912144) uncover that a novel complex of the autophagy adaptor optineurin and the membrane protein ATG9A specifically regulate ubiquitin-induced mitophagy.