Onuchic José Nelson, Wolynes Peter G
Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Department of Physics, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla 92093, USA.
Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2004 Feb;14(1):70-5. doi: 10.1016/j.sbi.2004.01.009.
Protein folding should be complex. Proteins organize themselves into specific three-dimensional structures, through a myriad of conformational changes. The classical view of protein folding describes this process as a nearly sequential series of discrete intermediates. In contrast, the energy landscape theory of folding considers folding as the progressive organization of an ensemble of partially folded structures through which the protein passes on its way to the natively folded structure. As a result of evolution, proteins have a rugged funnel-like landscape biased toward the native structure. Connecting theory and simulations of minimalist models with experiments has completely revolutionized our understanding of the underlying mechanisms that control protein folding.
蛋白质折叠应该是复杂的。蛋白质通过无数的构象变化将自身组织成特定的三维结构。蛋白质折叠的经典观点将这一过程描述为一系列几乎连续的离散中间体。相比之下，折叠的能量景观理论认为折叠是蛋白质在通往天然折叠结构的过程中通过的一系列部分折叠结构的渐进组织。由于进化的结果，蛋白质具有偏向天然结构的崎岖漏斗状景观。将简约模型的理论和模拟与实验相结合，彻底改变了我们对控制蛋白质折叠的潜在机制的理解。
