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Updated: May 31, 2026

Assays for the Degradation of Misfolded Proteins in Cells
Published on: August 28, 2016
Cellular strategies of protein quality control
Bryan Chen1, Marco Retzlaff, Thomas Roos
1Department of Biology and BioX Program, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Abstract:
Eukaryotic cells must contend with a continuous stream of misfolded proteins that compromise the cellular protein homeostasis balance and jeopardize cell viability. An elaborate network of molecular chaperones and protein degradation factors continually monitor and maintain the integrity of the proteome. Cellular protein quality control relies on three distinct yet interconnected strategies whereby misfolded proteins can either be refolded, degraded, or delivered to distinct quality control compartments that sequester potentially harmful misfolded species. Molecular chaperones play a critical role in determining the fate of misfolded proteins in the cell. Here, we discuss the spatial and temporal organization of cellular quality control strategies and their implications for human diseases linked to protein misfolding and aggregation.
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