News from the Institute

Targeted protein degradation (TPD) is an emerging therapeutic strategy that hijacks the cellular recycling machinery to degrade and remove disease causing proteins. The E3 ligase Cereblon (CRBN) is the central player for this process. Small molecule drugs recruit disease relevant proteins to the CRBN surface, which are then marked for degradation and removed by the cells.

For the seventh consecutive year, IBC2 Director Ivan Đikić has been named as a Highly Cited Researcher recognizing his exceptional impact in the field. His research papers have ranked among the most cited from 2013 to 2023 in the two categories “Biology and Biochemistry” and “Molecular Biology and Genetics”, as recorded by Web of Science.

In a study published in today’s issue of Science, a team around IBC2 Director Ivan Đikić reveals how cells deploy ubiquitination and selective autophagy to combat the harmful effects of cryptic splicing, protecting against accumulation of misfolded proteins and preserving cellular health.

Together with a multidisciplinary, international team, former IBC2 Team Leader Lina Herhaus (now at Helmholtz HZI) and IBC2 Director Ivan Đikić found a new role for the so-far uncharacterized GTPase family Q protein (IRGQ).

Until now, the involvement of intrinsic disorder in membrane shaping processes has not been fully understood. A multidisciplinary group around IBC2 Team Leader Ram Bhaskara now reports in PNAS detailed insights into how intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) in proteins help remodel cellular structures, particularly within the membrane proteins of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER).