Martin W. Hetzer
- Protein homeostatis: live long, won't prosper
Protein turnover is an effective way of maintaining a functional proteome, as old and potentially damaged polypeptides are destroyed and replaced by newly synthesized copies. The discovery that NPCs contained long-lived proteins was a surprise because, unlike crystallins, collagens and elastins, NPC components are intracellular structures and are ubiquitously expressed.
