Oleuropein, the major component isolated from the Olea europaea, can activate the proteasome at low micromolar concentration, increases all three proteasome activities in vitro and delays replicative senescence of human embryonic fibroblast.
In contrast to the development of 20S proteasome inhibitors, drug-like molecules that can activate or enhance proteasome activity are rare and not well characterised, despite their potential therapeutic benefits for treating specific diseases in which an increase in proteasome activity is thought to be beneficial