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Protein pile-up plays havoc in ageing nematode worms

An analysis in ageing nematode worms reveals reductions in the tagging of certain proteins for clearance. This can lead to the accumulation of unnecessary proteins, in turn impairing cellular and tissue function.
  1. Bart P. Braeckman

    1. Bart P. Braeckman is in the Department of Biology, Ghent University, Ghent B-9000, Belgium.

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Unwanted, damaged or misfolded proteins inside cells are tagged with a chain of ubiquitin molecules. This tagging serves as a signal for destruction by the 26S proteasome, a complex of enzymes that breaks proteins down for clearance1 (Fig. 1a). Writing in Nature, Koyuncu et al.2 show that, in the ageing nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, some proteins escape the clean-up by the ubiquitin–proteosomal system, and that reducing the accumulation of such proteins can extend lifespan.

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Nature 596, 191-192 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02009-4

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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