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Updated: Jul 3, 2026

Structure-function Studies in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells Using Recombinase-mediated Cassette Exchange
Published on: April 27, 2017
Retention of enzyme gene duplicates by subfunctionalization
1Stockholm Bioinformatics Center, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden. chefnb@sbc.su.se
Abstract:
Duplication-degeneration-complementation (DDC) describes a process by which evolving duplicates of a pleiotropic ancestral gene divide up the multiple functions of the ancestor between them (i.e. subfunctionalize), and this ultimately frustrates the rate of pseudogene formation. Focusing explicitly on enzyme-like pleiotropic function, we model DDC driven by sequence divergence between duplicates. The model incorporates an idealized sequence-function mapping in which enzyme-substrate binding affinity is related to hydrophobic versus polar (HP) amino-acid composition of tertiary structure about the binding pocket. In this sense, a transparent coupling between physical-chemical function of an enzyme and sequence evolution is presented.
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