"German scientists writing in the Nature have described another “protease-chaperone machine” in cells that is widely conserved in living things.
"Named DegP, this molecular machine has two functions: if it cannot refold a badly-folded protein, it dismantles it. Its functions appear to be heat sensitive. The six-sided cluster of protein chains forms a barrel-shaped cavity, with “a construction reminiscent of a compactor.”
machine, and the door is closed. If the customer just needs cleaning to refold, the lint is scraped off and the molecule is ejected to refold; otherwise, it is compacted and destroyed. The machine is apparently versatile enough to handle many different kinds of proteins.
This is all so amazing, and raises additional questions;
Q: how do these eyeless, mindless machines know just what to do?
Q: How do they recognize a badly folded protein?
Q: When our best biochemists can’t solve the highly complex problem of protein folding, how does a cell do it?
Clearly a great deal of sophisticated hardware and software design is behind the construction of these tiny machines. And remember, these machines are already fully functional in bacteria, the simplest forms of life."
CEH