Protein 'comet tails' propel cell recycling process

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Lou Gehrig's, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and Huntington's disease, all result in part from a defect in autophagy -- one way a cell removes and recycles misfolded proteins and pathogens. Researchers show for the first time that the formation of ephemeral compartments key in this process require actin polymerization by a complex of seven proteins, which creates 'comet tails.'

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