Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, United States.
Curr Opin Microbiol. 2013 Apr;16(2):177-83. doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2013.03.008. Epub 2013 Apr 17.
Recent studies have identified a growing number of mesoscale protein assemblies in both bacterial and eukaryotic cells. Traditionally, these polymeric assemblies are thought to provide structural support for the cell and thus have been classified as the cytoskeleton. However a new class of macromolecular structure is emerging as an organizer of cellular processes that occur on scales hundreds of times larger than a single protein. We propose two types of self-assembling structures, dynamic globules and crystalline scaffolds, and suggest they provide a means to achieve cell-scale order. We discuss general mechanisms for assembly and regulation. Finally, we discuss assemblies that are found to organize metabolism and what possible mechanisms may serve these metabolic enzyme complexes.
最近的研究已经在细菌和真核细胞中鉴定出越来越多的中尺度蛋白质组装体。传统上，这些聚合组装体被认为为细胞提供结构支撑，因此被归类为细胞骨架。然而，一种新的大分子结构正在作为细胞过程的组织者出现，这些过程发生的规模比单个蛋白质大数百倍。我们提出了两种自组装结构，动态液滴和结晶支架，并提出它们提供了实现细胞尺度有序的手段。我们讨论了组装和调节的一般机制。最后，我们讨论了组织代谢的组装体以及可能为这些代谢酶复合物提供服务的可能机制。
