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Globular Proteins

Globular Proteins

In organisms, proteins are the most abundant macromolecules. They act as the building blocks of life and play various crucial roles in the body. Proteins can be broadly classified into two distinct subtypes based on their shape and solubilities: globular proteins and fibrous proteins.
Globular proteins serve many important physiological functions, such as acting as enzymes, cellular messengers, and molecular transporters. These roles often require the proteins to be soluble in the aqueous...

Protein and Protein Structure

Protein and Protein Structure

Proteins are one of the most abundant organic molecules in living systems and have the most diverse range of functions of all macromolecules. Proteins may be structural, regulatory, contractile, or protective. They may serve in transport, storage, or membranes; or they may be toxins or enzymes. Their structures, like their functions, vary greatly. They are all, however, amino acid polymers arranged in a linear sequence.
A protein's shape is critical to its function. For example, an enzyme...

Globular and Fibrous Proteins

Globular and Fibrous Proteins

Many proteins can be classified into two distinct subtypes - globular or fibrous. These two types differ in their shapes and solubilities.
Globular proteins are also known as spheroproteins and typically are approximately round in shape. They contain a mix of amino acid types and contain differing sequences in their primary structures. Globular proteins have many different functions, such as enzymes, cellular messengers, and molecular transporters. These roles often require the proteins to be...

Globular and Fibrous Proteins

Globular and Fibrous Proteins

Protein Organization

Protein Organization

Proteins are polymers of amino acid residues. They are versatile and responsible for different cellular functions, including DNA replication, molecular transport, catalysis, and structural support. Proteins have a hierarchical structure comprising at least three levels of organization: primary, secondary, and tertiary structure. Some large proteins have a quaternary structure where individual protein subunits are linked together.
The primary structure of a protein is its amino acid sequence....

Protein Organization

Protein Organization

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Updated: Apr 12, 2026

Combining Chemical Cross-linking and Mass Spectrometry of Intact Protein Complexes to Study the Architecture of Multi-subunit Protein Assemblies

Combining Chemical Cross-linking and Mass Spectrometry of Intact Protein Complexes to Study the Architecture of Multi-subunit Protein Assemblies

Published on: November 28, 2017

Polyproteins in structural biology.

Thibaut Crépin¹, Christopher Swale¹, Alexandre Monod¹

¹Unit of Virus Host-Cell Interactions, UJF-EMBL-CNRS, UMI 3265, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, 38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.

Current Opinion in Structural Biology

|May 22, 2015

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Polyproteins, chains of linked proteins in viruses like HIV, are crucial for organizing cellular functions. Studying their structure aids in developing antiviral strategies and advancing protein production for research.

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Area of Science:

Structural biology
Virology
Biochemistry

Background:

Polyproteins are precursor proteins found in viruses, including HIV, that are cleaved into functional units.
Understanding polyprotein maturation is key to developing antiviral therapies.
Recombinant and synthetic polyproteins are valuable tools in modern structural biology.

Purpose of the Study:

To highlight recent advancements in the use of natural and synthetic polyproteins in structural biology.
To showcase how polyproteins aid in determining the structure of challenging protein targets.
To illustrate the application of polyproteins in dissecting protein folding dynamics.

Main Methods:

Analysis of viral polyprotein maturation pathways.
X-ray crystallography for high-resolution structure determination of recombinant polyproteins.
Atomic force microscopy for single-molecule structure analysis of synthetic polyproteins.

Main Results:

Structural analysis of polyprotein maturation provides insights for antiviral drug development.
Recombinant polyproteins enable structure determination of previously inaccessible proteins like influenza polymerase.
Synthetic polyproteins facilitate the study of protein folding dynamics at the single-molecule level.

Conclusions:

Polyproteins are versatile tools in structural biology for both viral research and protein production.
Structural insights from polyproteins contribute to the development of novel antiviral interventions.
The use of polyproteins is expanding the frontiers of protein structure determination and dynamics analysis.