The use of in vitro assays to measure endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation.

Approximately one-third of all newly translated polypeptides interact with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), an event that is essential to target these nascent proteins to distinct compartments within the cell or to the extracellular milieu. Thus, the ER houses molecular chaperones that augment the folding of this diverse group of macromolecules. The ER also houses the enzymes that catalyze a multitude of posttranslational modifications. If, however, proteins misfold or are improperly modified in the ER they are proteolyzed via a process known as ER-associated degradation (ERAD). During ERAD, substrates are selected by molecular chaperones and chaperone-like proteins. They are then delivered to the cytoplasmic proteasome and hydrolyzed. In most cases, delivery and proteasome-targeting require the covalent attachment of ubiquitin. The discovery and underlying mechanisms of the ERAD pathway have been aided by the development of in vitro assays that employ components derived from the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These assays recapitulate the selection of ERAD substrates, the "retrotranslocation" of selected polypeptides from the ER into the cytoplasm, and the proteasome-mediated degradation of the substrate. The ubiquitination of integral membrane ERAD substrates has also been reconstituted.