Protein homeostasis-more than resisting a hot bath
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Updated: Mar 24, 2026

Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model System to Study Protein Homeostasis in a Multicellular Organism
Published on: December 18, 2013
Changhan Lee1, Edvard Wigren2, Heinrich Lünsdorf3
1Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 171 77, Sweden.
Abstract:
Maintenance of protein homeostasis is essential for survival of all organisms. In bacteria, the protein quality control system has a broad physiological impact beyond heat shock resistance, being involved in virulence, antibiotic resistance, as well as protection against environmental stresses. Its contribution to rejuvenation and growth arrest suggests interference with protein quality control to be a novel antimicrobial strategy. Remarkably, a protein quality control module originating from environmental strains has been found to be horizontally transferred to predominant clonal groups of bacteria providing exquisite thermotolerance to recently emerged global pathogens suggesting that novel features related to protein homeostasis contribute to the transition to new environments.
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