Dr. Rong Li, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, discovered an unexpected route for cells to eliminate protein clumps that may sometimes be the molecular equivalent of throwing too much or the wrong trash into the garbage disposal, and which may explain part of what goes awry in the progression of such neurodegenerative diseases as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Mitochondria (red) that have imported misfolded proteins (green)
Erli Jin and Linhao Ruan/Johns Hopkins Medicine
Li, who holds a joint appointment in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine’s Department of Cell Biology and directs the Center for Cell Dynamics, Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences, and her team published their findings in the March 1, 2017 issue of the highly recognized journal Nature. You can view the official news release here.