Zhang C, DeLisi C
Department of Chemistry and E. O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley 94720, USA.
Cell Mol Life Sci. 2001 Jan;58(1):72-9. doi: 10.1007/PL00000779.
Advances in methods of structure determination have led to the accumulation of large amounts of protein structural data. Some 500 distinct protein folds have now been characterized, representing one-third of all globular folds that exist. The range of known structural types and the relatively large fraction of the protein universe that has already been sampled have greatly facilitated the discovery of some unifying principles governing protein structure and evolutionary relationships. These include a highly skewed distribution of topological arrangements of secondary-structure elements that favors a few very common connectivities and a highly skewed distribution in the capacity of folds to accommodate unrelated sequences. These and other observations suggest that the number of folds is far fewer than the number of genes, and that the fold universe is dominated by a small number of giant attractors that accommodate large numbers of unrelated sequences. Thus all basic protein folds will likely be determined in the near future, laying the foundation for a comprehensive understanding of the biochemical and cellular functions of whole organisms.
结构测定方法的进步导致了大量蛋白质结构数据的积累。目前已对约500种不同的蛋白质折叠进行了表征，占所有存在的球状折叠的三分之一。已知结构类型的范围以及已被采样的蛋白质世界中相对较大的比例，极大地促进了一些支配蛋白质结构和进化关系的统一原则的发现。这些原则包括二级结构元件拓扑排列的高度偏态分布，这种分布有利于少数非常常见的连接方式，以及折叠容纳不相关序列能力的高度偏态分布。这些以及其他观察结果表明，折叠的数量远少于基因的数量，并且折叠世界由少数能够容纳大量不相关序列的巨大吸引子主导。因此，所有基本的蛋白质折叠可能在不久的将来被确定，为全面理解整个生物体的生化和细胞功能奠定基础。
