The yin and yang in the life of proteins: Two opposing mechanisms regulate the transport of proteins in peroxisomes
Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - 12:01
in Biology & Nature
Recycling or "scrap press": physicians at the Ruhr-Universität have found out which molecular mechanisms decide about the fate of the import receptor Pex18. Pex18 is responsible for the import of proteins into specific cell components, namely peroxisomes. Two opposing regulatory circuits determine whether the receptor remains active or is broken down after the transport has been completed. "Thus, the picture of the regulation of the protein import into peroxisomes has been completed and integrated to form one single model," says Junior Professor Dr Harald Platta from the RUB Faculty of Medicine. Together with Prof Dr Ralf Erdmann and other colleagues he reports in the journal Traffic.