ER quality control of protein folding

Endoplasmic Reticulum maintains a quality control mechanism that monitors the biogenesis of secretory proteins. Through this mechanism, properly folded proteins are transported to their appropriate destinations whereas misfolded proteins are recognized and targeted for degradation by ER Associated Protein Degradation machinery (ERAD). The factors and mechanisms that govern the recognition and targeting of misfolded proteins by the ERAD machinery are poorly understood. This thesis discusses the contribution we have made toward identifying the factors and elucidating the mechanisms that underlie ERAD machinery.