“…Focused low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (FLIPUS) treatment significantly enhanced the protein level of phosphoglycerate mutase 5 (PGAM5) in interleukin-1β (IL-1β)-induced primary mouse chondrocytes of knee joints, promoted Ser13 dephosphorylation containing FUN14 do domain protein 1 (FUNDC1), activated mitophagy in chondrocytes, significantly upregulated the expression of collagen II (Col II) and B-cell lymphoma/leukemia-2 (Bcl-2), downregulated matrix metalloproteinase 13 (MMP13), Bcl-2 associated X protein (Bax), and cleaved caspase-3 expression, and attenuated extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation and apoptosis. In vivo experiments further confirmed that FLIPUS could alleviate ECM loss and chondrocyte apoptosis in a destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) mouse model through mitophagy mediated by FUNDC1, thereby exerting a protective effect on cartilage ( Ye et al, 2023 ). In addition, syntaxin 17 (STX17) ( Xu et al, 2023 ), FK506 binding protein 8 (FKBP8) ( Yoo et al, 2020 ), nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat-containing family member X1 (NLRX1) ( Zhang Y. et al, 2019 ), prohibitin 2 (PHB2) ( Lai et al, 2023 ), cardiolipin (CL) ( Yang et al, 2023 ), thioredoxin-interacting protein (Txnip) ( Zhang S. et al, 2023 ), dual-specificity protein phosphatase 1 (DUSP1) ( Li R. et al, 2023 ), and other mitophagy-related receptors have also been shown to mediate mitophagy under stress conditions.…”