Lysosomes are tiny sacs of digestive enzymes that declutter cells by breaking down waste. But they can also be troublesome: When their outer surface is damaged, their destructive proteins begin to spill into the cytoplasm and harm the cell. Indeed, the frequency of this leakiness increases as a person ages and likely plays a role in aging-associated diseases such as neurodegenerative conditions. Now, a study published September 7 in Nature uncovers a previously unknown pathway that cells use to repair leaky lysosomes, which may have implications for treating these diseases.
It’s a “very complete and well-designed” study, and the first to link lipid transport to a nonmetabolic biological process, says Marja Jäättelä, a professor of cell death and metabolism at the Danish Cancer Society Research Centre, who was not involved in the work.
Research had already established one way that cells repair leaky lysosomes. Previously, a collection of proteins known ...
