Widespread aggregation and neurodegenerative diseases are associated with supersaturated proteins.

ABSTRACT: The maintenance of protein solubility is a fundamental aspect of cellular homeostasis because protein aggregation is associated with a wide variety of human diseases. Numerous proteins unrelated in sequence and structure, however, can misfold and aggregate, and widespread aggregation can occur in living systems under stress or aging. A crucial question in this context is why only certain proteins appear to aggregate readily in vivo, whereas others do not. We identify here the proteins most vulnerable to aggregation as those whose cellular concentrations are high relative to their solubilities. We find that these supersaturated proteins represent a metastable subproteome involved in pathological aggregation during stress and aging and are overrepresented in biochemical processes associated

SUBMITTER: Ciryam P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3883113 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature