Proteome-scale discovery of protein degradation and stabilization effectors. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38509365/)

These scientists wanted to find new ways to target specific proteins in our bodies for potential treatments. They knew that there are certain proteins called E3 ligases and deubiquitinases that can help degrade or stabilize other proteins, but there are so many of these proteins in our bodies that it's hard to know which ones are the most effective for this purpose.

So, the scientists created a special platform to test different human proteins and see which ones could help degrade or stabilize a target protein when they are close to each other. They found that there are many human proteins that can affect the stability of other proteins in this way.

By using this platform, the scientists were able to compare the activities of different E3 ligases and deubiquitinases, discover new proteins that can degrade or stabilize other proteins, and show that these proteins can be more effective against certain targets than the ones currently used in treatments.

Overall, this study gives us a better understanding of how different proteins can affect the stability of other proteins in our bodies, and it opens up new possibilities for developing treatments that target specific proteins for various diseases.

Poirson J., Cho H., Dhillon A., Haider S., Imrit AZ., Lam MHY., Alerasool N., Lacoste J., Mizan L., Wong C., Gingras AC., Schramek D., Taipale M. Proteome-scale discovery of protein degradation and stabilization effectors. Nature. 2024 Mar 20. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07224-3.