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Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Your cells have a quality control system to catch and destroy defective proteins — but it's not foolproof. A new Penn State study found that nearly half of a specific class of misfolded proteins manage to slip past the cell's maintenance crew. These rogue proteins can accumulate over time, potentially driving diseases like Alzheimer's and Huntington's, as well as aging.
Your cells are like tiny factories, constantly building proteins and running quality checks to catch defective ones. But a new Penn State study published in Nature Communications reveals a significant gap in that system. Researchers identified a class of proteins that misfold due to a knot-like structural error — and found that nearly half of them evade the cell's cleanup machinery entirely.
The culprit is a structural feature called an entanglement, where a string of amino acids loops and threads through itself. When this entanglement forms incorrectly — or fails to form when it should — the protein misfolds. While the cell's quality control system flags these proteins for removal at a much higher rate, many still slip through, often because the misfolded region is buried too deep to be detected.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: Misfolded proteins that accumulate in cells can disrupt the delicate balance of protein production and recycling — a process called protein homeostasis. This buildup is already linked to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Huntington's, and the findings could open the door to identifying new disease origins and potential treatments.
