How cells dispose of their waste

"Cellular waste disposal" – the 26S proteasome – plays an important role in protein degradation. First, misfolded and potentially dangerous proteins are tagged with molecules called ubiquitin. The 26S proteasome detects the tagged proteins and breaks them down into small fragments, which are then recycled. Scientists in the team of Wolfgang Baumeister, head of the research department "Molecular Structural Biology" at the MPI of Biochemistry, have now been able to reveal its structure.

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