Degradation of proteins

In eukaryotic cells, there are two main ways in which proteins are broken down into peptide residues:
 * 1) Autophagy (from the Greek for "self-eating"), which removes long-lived proteins or larger structures such as organelles, by transporting them to the lysosome, where they are cleaved.
 * 2) Proteins that have a shorter lifespan, which is the vast majority (about 90%) of all degraded proteins, are not degraded in a membrane organelle such as a lysosome, but freely in the cytosol or in the nucleus by a multiprotein complex called the proteasome.

More detailed information on protein degradation can be found on the following pages:


 * Physiology
 * Lysosomes
 * Proteasomes (general basis)
 * Degradation of proteins on proteasomes


 * Pathology:
 * Lysosomal disease
 * Tumor stroma as a therapeutic target
 * Carcinogenesis

Related articles

 * Proteins
 * Ubiquitination
 * Deubiquitination
 * History of the ubiquitin-proteasome system
 * Proteasome inhibitors
 * Proteasome (in detail)