One outlier molecule makes cells clear multiple toxic proteins

UC Berkeley researchers found one unusual molecule while screening more than 120,000 compounds. It displaces the inhibitor BEX while preserving the E3 ligase complex CUL2-FEM1B's ability to recognise substrates, restoring the cell's ubiquitin-based protein-clearance machinery. The team calls the route stimulated protein degradation and observed better mitochondrial function and neuron protection in cellular models of COX deficiency syndrome and Friedreich's ataxia. Unlike degradation aimed at one target, it may handle multiple misfolded proteins at once. But the work remains a cellular and mechanistic study, far from a patient treatment.