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Scientists Discover New Function of Cells in Our Immune System
Scientists knew about the proteasome, but they didn’t know they could do this.
I used to think we’d discovered everything we needed to know. Then I learned we have no idea how much we don’t know. Even when we think we know everything about something, a new discovery inevitably changes everything we thought we knew.
For instance, we understand our immune system pretty well, but scientists just discovered a new role for the trash bins of our cells: the proteasome. This finding could revolutionize the medical field by providing a new source of antibiotics while also potentially solving our growing global antimicrobial drug resistance problem.
The Proteasome
The research we’re discussing today focuses on the proteasome — a structure inside every cell within a body — which takes up about 1 to 2 percent of a cell’s protein content.
Nicknamed our cellular trash bins, proteasomes are made of protein complexes that chop dead and aging proteins into smaller pieces, called peptides, which can be recycled into new proteins. All in all, proteasomes are responsible for breaking down about 70 percent of cellular proteins.
