Proteasome, the Recycle Bin of the Cancer Cell

Proteolysis is an integral cellular function which not only allows correction of protein synthesis mistakes, such as misfolded protein, but also recycles unnecessary proteins, therefore maintaining an amino acid reservoir for protein synthesis. The bulk of protein break down falls to a large multi-subunit complex, the 26S proteasome, dubbed the ‘recycling bin of the cell’. Considering the extent of proteasomal involvement in most cellular processes, it is unsurprising that the proteasome is also implicated in pathogenesis such as cancer. This chapter provides an overview of the history of the proteasome discovery, proteasome structure and regulation; as well as an initial insight into the role it plays in different cancer types.