Researchers at the University of Vienna detailed molecular mechanisms initiating mitophagy through transmembrane cargo receptors, offering insights into selective mitochondrial degradation. Published in Nature Cell Biology, the study reveals two distinct pathways recruiting autophagy machinery, differing fundamentally from soluble cargo receptor mechanisms. Given dysregulated mitophagy’s link to protein aggregates in Parkinson’s disease, these findings open new therapeutic targets to modulate mitochondrial quality control in neurodegenerative disorders.