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Microfluidic Mixers for Studying Protein Folding
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Fluid protein fold space and its implications.

Lauren L Porter1,2

  • 1National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

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|July 11, 2023
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Protein fold space is not discrete but fluid, as fold-switching proteins can change structure and function in response to cellular signals. This challenges long-held views and expands our understanding of protein diversity.

Keywords:
alternative splicingmetamorphic proteinsprotein evolutionprotein fold switchingprotein folding

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Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Structural Biology
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Traditionally, protein fold space was considered discrete, with distinct sequences encoding distinct protein folds.
  • Experimental evidence suggested a static relationship between amino acid sequences and protein structures.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To challenge the concept of discrete protein fold space.
  • To introduce and support the concept of a fluid protein fold space.
  • To explore the implications of fold-switching proteins on protein diversity.

Main Methods:

  • Review and synthesis of recent experimental observations supporting fold-switching.
  • Analysis of the implications of fold-switching on protein sequence-structure relationships.

Main Results:

  • Fold-switching proteins demonstrate that protein fold space is fluid, not discrete.
  • Amino acid sequences can interconvert between folds with distinct secondary structures.
  • Fold switching is evolutionarily selected, indicating functional advantages.

Conclusions:

  • Minor sequence modifications can significantly alter protein structure and function.
  • Mechanisms like alternative splicing and post-translational modifications can expand proteomic diversity.
  • The discovery of fold-switching proteins necessitates a revised view of protein structure and evolution.