Gatekeepers are discovered in the human cell 'shredder'
Insulin, a hormone released in large quantities when food is consumed, is reduced by 50% only three to five minutes later. However, if the cell’s internal waste disposal system malfunctions, illnesses such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease may occur. To prevent this from happening, the complex process of protein degradation first needs to be fully understood at an atomic level so that appropriate drugs can be developed. Biochemists at Frankfurt University, collaborating with an international team of scientists have just taken an important step towards unravelling the workings of this mechanism. In the current edition of the scientific journal “Nature” they report finding the long-awaited receptor for ubiquitin on the proteasome. This receptor may well turn out to have a key role in fighting tumours.