A Proteasome Degrading Proteins into Peptides

During the replication of viruses and intracellular bacteria within their host cell, as well as during the replication of tumor cells, viral, bacterial, or tumor proteins, as well proteins released from phagosomes of phagocytes and various human cell or self-proteins, are degraded into a variety of peptide epitopes by cylindrical organelles called proteasomes. As endogenous antigens pass through proteasomes, proteases and peptidases chop the protein up into a series of peptides, typically 8-11 amino acids long.

GIF Animation of A Proteasome Degrading Proteins into Peptides .jpg by Gary E. Kaiser, Ph.D.
Professor of Microbiology, The Community College of Baltimore County, Catonsville Campus
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://faculty.ccbcmd.edu/~gkaiser/index.html.

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Last updated: Feb., 2021
Please send comments and inquiries to Dr. Gary Kaiser