Proteasome

Your body breaks down and rebuilds about 300 to 400 grams of its own protein every day. Most of that breakdown happens in the proteasome. What does the proteasome do to a protein it takes in?

A cell must pick out the few proteins it wants gone among thousands of others. What mark does it put on a protein to send it to the proteasome?

A ring of six motor parts sits on top of the proteasome's cutting barrel. They grip the tagged protein and pull it in. What fuel do these motors burn?

Drug designers now want the proteasome to destroy a protein of their own choice. How does a PROTAC molecule make that happen?

The six motor parts of the proteasome stand in a spiral staircase around the protein chain. Why does the chain move one way only?

The proteasome's cutting sites sit inside a sealed barrel, behind a gate that the motor opens. Why does the cell hide them there?

Ribosomes build proteins and proteasomes destroy them, and together they set protein levels. In one mouse cell line, how does the destroying rate compare with the building rate?

Most of the short pieces the proteasome makes are recycled into new proteins. What happens to a few of them?

The proteasome is also a drug target. The drug bortezomib blocks it. Which disease was this drug approved to treat?

Pulling a folded protein apart costs energy, and tighter folds cost more. Roughly how many ATP does the proteasome spend to destroy one tagged test protein?