
The proteasome is essential for the controlled degradation of a large number of unwanted or damaged proteins in all cells and thereby controls virtually every cellular process. While it has long been known that inhibition of proteasome degradation is lethal, the underlying mechanisms have remained elusive.
Anne Bertolotti’s group, in the LMB’s Neurobiology Division, have discovered that proteasome inhibition causes a lethal amino acid imbalance in yeast, mammalian cells and Drosophila.