Protein balance in the reproductive system can prevent disease
Protein balance in sex cells influences protein accumulation in other tissues through specific signaling
Universität zu Köln
"We were very surprised to see that just by inducing protein clumps in germ cells, we could change the mitochondrial network of the whole organism. This change also induced protein accumulations in neurons," said Guiseppe Calculli, first author of the study. In the future, it would be of great interest to investigate whether germ-specific proteins also accumulate during aging and whether this process contributes to the age-associated aggregation of proteins characteristic of pathologies such as Huntington's disease or ALS.
"Our findings open a new door to understanding why protein aggregates accumulate in the neurons of patients with Huntington's disease and ALS. Since these aggregates may contribute to the neurodegeneration characteristic of these diseases, which remains incurable, further understanding of the process discovered here may lead to new therapeutic approaches," explained Vilchez, research group leader at the Cluster of Excellence for Aging Research CECAD and the Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (ZMMK) and head of the study.
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Original publication
Calculli G, Lee HJ, Shen K, Pham U, Herholz M, Trifunociv A, Dillin A, Vilchez D. Systemic regulation of mitochondria by germline proteostasis prevents protein aggregation in the soma of C. elegans. Science Advances 2021