title: When proteostasis goes bad: Protein aggregation in the cell.
abstract: Protein aggregation is a hallmark of the major neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's and motor neuron and is a symptom of a breakdown in the management of proteome foldedness. Indeed, it is remarkable that under normal conditions cells can keep their proteome in a highly crowded and confined space without uncontrollable aggregation. Proteins pose a particular challenge relative to other classes of biomolecules because upon synthesis they must typically follow a complex folding pathway to reach their functional conformation (native state). Non-native conformations, including the unfolded nascent chain, are highly prone to aberrant interactions, leading to aggregation. Here we review recent advances in knowledge of proteostasis, approaches to monitor proteostasis and the impact that protein aggregation has on biology. We also include discussion of the outstanding challenges. © 2017 IUBMB Life, 69(2):49-54, 2017.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Road, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Radwan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Road, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Rebecca J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Road, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Xiaojing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sui
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Road, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Danny M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Hatters
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D066263:Protein Aggregation, Pathological / Q000235:genetics*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017510:Protein Folding; D020543:Proteome / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D020543:Proteome
keywords: amyloid; chaperones; protein aggregation; protein folding; protein misfolding; protein quality control; proteostasis