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Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys have developed a clearer picture of how crucial machinery in the human cell's recycling process for obsolete and misshapen proteins—known as proteasomes—are formed.

"Proteasomes are absolutely essential for health," said Jianhua Zhao, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Cancer Metabolism and Microenvironment Program and senior author on the new study.

"An estimated 80% of proteins within the cell are degraded by proteasomes to maintain a healthy balance as new proteins replace those that have fulfilled their function or became misfolded and potentially harmful."

Issues with proteasomes can contribute to certain cancers and are associated with age-related diseases, so a better understanding of how these prodigious protein degraders are made may lead to new treatments for many conditions.

Zhao and his team published their results on September 18, 2024, in Nature Communications, providing new details about stages in the process of proteasome assembly that had eluded investigators.

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