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MONDAY, July 28, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- A previously unknown component of the body's cellular garbage-disposal system has been identified by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.
This disposal system, called the ubiquitin system, is responsible for the regulation of cell function by removal of abnormal and unneeded proteins.
This new study provides the first description of a molecule called GAIP interacting protein N terminus (GIPN), which is active in the ubiquitin system. GIPN plays an important role in the degradation of G proteins, which are switches that turn activities on or off in a cell.
These G proteins regulate everything from hormone secretion to the beating of the heart. The study found that GIPN seems to specifically target G proteins for degradation, thus regulating G protein signaling by controlling the amount of G protein in a cell.
The study appears in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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