Study reveals novel therapeutic target to eliminate unwanted and misfolded proteins

Biological cells contain in-built "housekeeping" mechanisms for taking care of damaged cellular structures. This includes the ubiquitin‒proteasome system (UPS), which selectively tags unwanted proteins with the ubiquitin molecule, and then clears them. When the UPS mechanism fails, cells activate a compensatory protein clearance process called "aggrephagy," in which protein aggregates are degraded by the cell in a controlled manner. However, thus far, the mechanism behind aggrephagy has been unknown.