Biological complexity: how cells save proteins (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, January 03, 2022, 22:40 (837 days ago) @ David Turell

Another editing system to protect cells:

https://phys.org/news/2022-01-scientists-emergency-pathway-human-cells.html

"Significantly, the researchers discovered that there can be a shift from the tightly controlled process of eliminating proteins in the cells to a less strict mechanism when cells enter an "emergency protocol." This shift can "clear up" the toxic proteins before their toxicity levels get too high.

"Their study was published on 26 October 2021 in Nature Communications. To carry out their study, the researchers investigated several "proteasomes," protein complexes that work by a chemical reaction to degrade unneeded or damaged cell proteins. The researchers found that elevated levels of one type of proteasome, 20S, appears to contribute to cell survival, even for those cells under stress from damaged proteins.

"Human cells—both functional and damaged—are constantly recycled by chemically "tagging" and targeting for removal when they are under stress by the ubiquitin system (2004 Nobel Prize in chemistry). At the same time, a few proteins that are intact and functional can also be dragged into the 20S proteasome "molecular disposal unit" along with the toxic proteins that have be targeted for destruction. Nevertheless, rather than harm cells, this mode of action by 20S proteasome may aid cells in rapidly remove toxic proteins. In their conclusion, the authors raised the interesting speculation that this emergency pathway can help even damaged cells to withstand bouts of stress and allow them to "age gracefully.'"

Comment: more proof of God's error editing processes showing He recognized errors could happen. dhw's complaints are not logical