Chaperone machinery in neurodegeneration: A spotlight on protein misfolding diseases

Proteins misfolding in neurodegenerative disorders pose a significant challenge to human health and this necessitates a deeper understanding of the fundamental molecular mechanisms. Molecular chaperones are a diverse group of specialized proteins, which are extensively involved in maintaining cellular protein homeostasis and thus preventing aggregation of misfolded proteins. Pathological advancement in several neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD) and Huntington's disease (HD) is characterized by the rampant accretion of misfolded proteins due to chaperonic failure, leading to progressive neuronal dysfunctioning and eventually cell death. Such as in AD, Hsp70 and Hsp90 chaperones are known to interact with β-amyloid and tau proteins, thus preventing their subsequent aggregation with concomitant refolding into native conformations. In PD, chaperones are involved in assisting mitigation of α-Syn misfolding and aggregation, thereby maintaining the normal neuronal functions and their viability. Similarly in HD, chaperones modulate aberrant misfolding of huntingtin protein and its aggregation, thus highlighting prospective therapeutic targets for disease intervention. Nevertheless, further investigating and understanding the explicit roles of chaperones in modulating several protein misfolding diseases holds potential for the development of novel therapeutic approaches. Moreover, targeting such specialized chaperone machinery in restoring protein homeostasis and alleviating subsequent protein aggregation could be considered as a promising approach in managing neurodegenerative disorders.