Millions of protein molecules are synthesized per minute in each cell, and simultaneously, millions of protein molecules are degraded. Mutated and misfolded newly synthesized proteins are rapidly degraded to prevent the toxicity caused by the accumulation of these protein fragments. There are two main mechanisms of intracellular protein degradation: the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) and the autophagy-lysosome pathway (ALP). There is a certain relationship between these two mechanisms, and there are some molecules that initiate compensatory effects to prevent disease progression.
Keywords: Autophagy; Lysosome; Proteasome; Ubiquitin.