In a process called autophagy, cell components that are no longer needed are enclosed by membranes and broken down into their basic building blocks. This vital process prevents the formation of harmful aggregates and makes nutrients available again. A research team co-led by SFB 1381 PI Dr. Claudine Kraft (B10) and supported by SFB 1381 PIs Carola Hunte (A05) and Jens Timmer (AI01) has now discovered the conditions necessary for the autophagy machinery to become activated: the interaction between receptor and adapter molecules has to be weak – strong interactions prevent the activation. The researchers were also able to artificially control this process and trigger the degradation of otherwise non-degradable molecules in yeast cells. Targeting autophagy in this way is a promising approach for promoting the degradation of protein aggregates in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer‘s, and for supporting cancer treatments.
The study has been published in Nature Cell Biology. More information can be found in the the original publication and in the press release of the University of Freiburg.
llustration: The autophagy machinery (green) forms small droplets on the surface of cargo (blue) (live cell fluorescence microscopy). Mariya Licheva / University of Freiburg
