Have you HRD? Understanding ERAD is DOAble!

Numerous factors are involved in the eradication of misfolded proteins, yet how these factors achieve substrate specificity remains unclear. In this issue of Cell, Denic et al. (2006) and Carvalho et al. (2006) report that two distinct protein complexes at the endoplasmic reticulum membrane are responsible for the recognition and degradation of specific subsets of protein substrates.