Judith Frydman

Frydman's work shaped our current understanding of protein folding and quality control in the cell. She discovered the essential chaperone in TRiC and elucidated its mechanism and function in protein folding. She established that protein translation and folding are coupled, an idea that is now considered fundamental to understand protein biogenesis. Frydman demonstrated the role of codon usage and translational pausing in nascent chain folding and chaperone recruitment. Frydman also discovered two spatially and functionally specific quality control compartments that mediate sequestration and/or clearance of misfolded proteins, an insight essential for understanding the genesis of protein aggregation associated with neurodegeneration.