Active state of Parkin

Under steady-state conditions, the E3 ubiquitin ligase Parkin is localized to the cytosol in an autoinhibited state. Two recent studies describe the mechanism of Parkin activation by phosphorylation via structural rearrangement of the Ubl and RING2 domains, explaining how the RING2 domain is released from the core of Parkin to allow for ubiquitination of its substrates.