Researchers identify a fundamental process in lysosomal function and protein degradation
Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - 10:00
in Biology & Nature
The degradation of proteins and other macromolecules in cells is vital to survival. Disruption of this process can result in serious disease. The research group of Professor Thomas Jentsch (Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology, FMP/ Max Delbrueck Centre for Molecular Medicine, MDC, Berlin-Buch) has now succeeded in identifying an essential cellular process necessary for the transport and degradation of macromolecules in endosomes and lysosomes, respectively. In two studies published in the same issue of the journal Science, they showed that - contrary to scientific consensus - the function of these tiny cell organelles not only depends on the pH, but also on chloride ion accumulation in their interior...