New cell imaging method measures protein folding in living organelles

Protein aggregates are associated with the development of diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. These are found more often in certain areas of cells known as membraneless organelles. Do these organelles promote this protein clumping, or do they protect the cell by temporarily absorbing the aggregates? Professor Simon Ebbinghaus and Mailin Becker from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, set out to answer this question with their new, self-developed method, "confocal Fast Relaxation Imaging," or cFReI. They report their findings in the journal PRX Life.