Recent advances in understanding proteasome function

The proteasome is present in all cells, from yeast to man, where it is central to the proteolytic degradation of the vast majority of intracellular proteins. As such, many groups have examined the role of the proteasome with respect to their own specific protein(s) of interest. Consequently, literally hundreds of papers have flooded the literature. Our current review is restricted to selective proteins that play critical roles in particular disease states where major advances have been made since 1998.