Folding upon phosphorylation: translational regulation by a disorder-to-order transition

4E binding proteins (4E-BPs) play an important role in the regulation of translation by binding to eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) and inhibiting assembly of the eIF4F complex. While phosphorylation of 4E-BPs is known to disrupt their binding to eIF4E, the mechanism by which this occurs has been unclear. In a recent study, Forman-Kay and coworkers demonstrate that this mechanism is primarily structure-based: phosphorylation of 4E-BPs results in a disorder-to-order transition, bringing them from their binding-competent disordered state to a folded state incompatible with eIF4E binding.