How do cells distinguish normal proteins from defective proteins and selectively get rid of the latter? This is one of the questions Manu Hegde’s lab is trying to answer because problems in getting rid of defective proteins can lead to neurodegeneration. In this microscope image of two cells for day 156 of #LMB365, normal and defective versions of the same protein are visualised in red and green, respectively. The cell keeps the normal protein on the cell surface, where it belongs, but most of the defective protein is found in degradation compartments called lysosomes. How cells know to remove only the defective proteins from the cell surface is being investigated by Eszter Zavodszky in the Hegde lab.
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
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