Jeffery Constance J
*Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, MC567, 900 S. Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL 60607, U.S.A.
Biochem Soc Trans. 2014 Dec;42(6):1679-83. doi: 10.1042/BST20140226.
Moonlighting proteins comprise a class of multifunctional proteins in which a single polypeptide chain performs multiple physiologically relevant biochemical or biophysical functions. Almost 300 proteins have been found to moonlight. The known examples of moonlighting proteins include diverse types of proteins, including receptors, enzymes, transcription factors, adhesins and scaffolds, and different combinations of functions are observed. Moonlighting proteins are expressed throughout the evolutionary tree and function in many different biochemical pathways. Some moonlighting proteins can perform both functions simultaneously, but for others, the protein's function changes in response to changes in the environment. The diverse examples of moonlighting proteins already identified, and the potential benefits moonlighting proteins might provide to the organism, such as through coordinating cellular activities, suggest that many more moonlighting proteins are likely to be found. Continuing studies of the structures and functions of moonlighting proteins will aid in predicting the functions of proteins identified through genome sequencing projects, in interpreting results from proteomics experiments, in understanding how different biochemical pathways interact in systems biology, in annotating protein sequence and structure databases, in studies of protein evolution and in the design of proteins with novel functions.
兼性蛋白质构成一类多功能蛋白质，其中单一多肽链执行多种生理相关的生化或生物物理功能。已发现近300种蛋白质具有兼性。已知的兼性蛋白质例子包括多种类型的蛋白质，如受体、酶、转录因子、黏附素和支架蛋白，并且观察到了不同的功能组合。兼性蛋白质在整个进化树中都有表达，并在许多不同的生化途径中发挥作用。一些兼性蛋白质可以同时执行两种功能，但对于其他兼性蛋白质而言，其功能会随着环境变化而改变。已鉴定出的兼性蛋白质的多样例子，以及兼性蛋白质可能为生物体提供的潜在益处，如通过协调细胞活动，表明可能会发现更多的兼性蛋白质。对兼性蛋白质结构和功能的持续研究将有助于预测通过基因组测序项目鉴定出的蛋白质的功能，解释蛋白质组学实验结果，理解不同生化途径在系统生物学中如何相互作用，注释蛋白质序列和结构数据库，开展蛋白质进化研究以及设计具有新功能的蛋白质。
