Dessailly Benoît H, Redfern Oliver C, Cuff Alison, Orengo Christine A
Department of Structural and Molecular Biology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom.
Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2009 Jun;19(3):349-56. doi: 10.1016/j.sbi.2009.03.009. Epub 2009 Apr 22.
The ability to assign function to proteins has become a major bottleneck for comprehensively understanding cellular mechanisms at the molecular level. Here we discuss the extent to which structural domain classifications can help in deciphering the complex relationship between the functions of proteins and their sequences and structures. Structural classifications are particularly helpful in understanding the mosaic manner in which new proteins and functions emerge through evolution. This is partly because they provide reliable and concrete domain definitions and enable the detection of very remote structural similarities and homologies. It is also because structural data can illuminate more clearly the mechanisms by which a broader functional repertoire can emerge during evolution.
在分子水平上全面理解细胞机制时,为蛋白质赋予功能的能力已成为一个主要瓶颈。在此,我们讨论结构域分类在多大程度上有助于解读蛋白质功能与其序列和结构之间的复杂关系。结构分类在理解新蛋白质和功能如何通过进化以镶嵌方式出现方面特别有帮助。部分原因在于它们提供了可靠且具体的结构域定义,并能够检测到非常远缘的结构相似性和同源性。还因为结构数据能够更清晰地阐明在进化过程中如何出现更广泛功能库的机制。