ER stress induces abu-1 (white) when UPR pathways are blocked (bottom).

Areport on page 639 identifies a family of proteins that are important when worms are unable to deal with ER stress. The results from Urano et al. suggest that these proteins are receptors for incorrectly folded proteins at the ER.

In worms and other eukaryotes, conditions that stress the ER, such as those that inhibit glycosylation, activate the unfolded protein response (UPR). The UPR comprises several signaling pathways that increase the protein folding capacity of the ER through the induction of chaperones and other protein processing and trafficking components.

The UPR does not, however, explain everything. Using microarrays, Urano et al. identified a default pathway activated in worms under ER stress when the UPR is blocked. Among the genes identified were nine members of a family they named abu, for activated in...

The Rockefeller University Press
2002
The Rockefeller University Press
2002
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