Exosome

The Exosome complex (or just- Exosome) is a multi-protein complex capable of degrading various types of RNA molecules. The Exosome complex is found in eukaryotic cell, and also in archaea, while in bacteria it is found in a simpler complex (but it has the same function). ^[1]

Function

Disease

Autoimmunity

The exosome complex is the target of autoantibodies, which are known to be found in people that suffer from various autoimmune diseases (especially PM/Scl overlap syndrome). In the autoimune diseases, antibodies are mainly directed against two of the proteins of the complex, called PM/Scl-100 and PM/Scl-75.

Cancer treatment

The Exosome is found to be inhibited by a cancer chemotherapy drug, which called antimetabolite fluorouracil. This drug is one of the most successful drugs for treating solid tumors.

Structural highlights

The core of the Exosom complex is made of a ring, which consisting of six RNases proteins (Rnase PH-like proteins).