The present disclosure provides a protection circuit for protecting a light emitting element, a pixel unit including the protection circuit, a display panel, and a driving method of the protection circuit. The protection circuit for protecting the light emitting element includes: a bonding protection sub-circuit including a sacrificial metal region, configured to electrically couple the sacrificial metal region to an anode pad and a cathode pad on the backplane for bonding the light emitting element during a period of bonding the light emitting element to the backplane.