Biochimica et biophysica acta
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The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is important for intracellular proteolysis, and is responsible for a diverse array of biologically important cellular processes, such as cell-cycle progression, signaling cascades and developmental programs. This system is also involved in the protein quality control, which maintains the health of the cell. ⋯ Of the several genes that can cause familial PD, parkin, the causative gene of autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism (ARJP), is of a special interest because it encodes an ubiquitin-protein ligase, which covalently attaches ubiquitin to target proteins, designating them for destruction by the proteasome. This review summarizes recent studies on the UPS pathway with a special reference to parkin, focusing on how parkin is linked to the pathogenesis of ARJP.