BIOCHEMISTRY

Functional Characterization of the Ribosome-associated Zuo1/Ssz1 Chaperone Complex

After proteins are made by a cell’s ribosome, they must be folded correctly into their complex structures that help them carry out the correct function. Lots of proteins help guide and facilitate this process and others in the cell. They are appropriately called chaperone proteins. When a protein is being made, hundreds of molecules are traveling around in the cell. Chaperone proteins must protect these new proteins from reacting with anything undesirable before they can properly fold. Kanghyun Lee spent his Ph.D. working on a chaperone complex called Zuo1/Ssz1 that aids in this process and has characterized how exactly it functions. Misfolded proteins are associated with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s so understanding mechanisms like this can lead to insights into disease.

To learn more about his work, attend his Thesis Review at 10 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 5 in Room 1211 in the HFD Biochemical Sciences Building.