Engineered proteins give scientists new control over cell recycling

Scientists have engineered versions of a protein that can sharply increase or reduce cells’ waste-recycling activity, giving researchers a new tool for investigating cancer and diseases such as Parkinson’s.

The work, published in Nature Communications, brought together researchers in India and the United States. It focuses on autophagy, a process in which cells enclose unwanted material, break it down and reuse its components for energy or growth.

Using computer simulations, the team found that a protein called LC3 changes shape when it touches the inner surface of the compartment that collects cellular waste. Experiments with altered versions of the protein then showed sharply different results: one produced very high recycling activity, while another produced very low activity.

That control matters because more recycling is not always better. Autophagy can help suppress tumour growth by clearing damaged material, but it can also help cancer cells survive and resist treatment. In Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, impaired recycling can contribute to a buildup of toxic protein clumps inside cells.

The findings establish a research tool, not a new treatment. Researcher Lipi Thukral is now working with collaborators in Germany and the UK to test the approach in cancer cells and Parkinson’s disease. Further research will be needed to determine whether this ability to adjust cellular recycling can lead to therapies.