Shan Shu-Ou
Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
Trends Biochem Sci. 2016 Dec;41(12):1050-1060. doi: 10.1016/j.tibs.2016.08.012. Epub 2016 Sep 19.
The GTPase superfamily of proteins provides molecular switches to regulate numerous cellular processes. The 'GTPase switch' paradigm, in which external regulatory factors control the switch of a GTPase between 'on' and 'off' states, has been used to interpret the regulatory mechanism of many GTPases. However, recent work unveiled a class of nucleotide hydrolases that do not adhere to this classical paradigm. Instead, they use nucleotide-dependent dimerization cycles to regulate key cellular processes. In this review article, recent studies of dimeric GTPases and ATPases involved in intracellular protein targeting are summarized. It is suggested that these proteins can use the conformational plasticity at their dimer interface to generate multiple points of regulation, thereby providing the driving force and spatiotemporal coordination of complex cellular pathways.
蛋白质的GTP酶超家族提供分子开关来调节众多细胞过程。“GTP酶开关”范式，即外部调节因子控制GTP酶在“开”和“关”状态之间的转换，已被用于解释许多GTP酶的调节机制。然而，最近的研究揭示了一类不遵循这种经典范式的核苷酸水解酶。相反，它们利用核苷酸依赖性二聚化循环来调节关键的细胞过程。在这篇综述文章中，总结了最近对参与细胞内蛋白质靶向的二聚体GTP酶和ATP酶的研究。有人提出，这些蛋白质可以利用其二聚体界面处的构象可塑性来产生多个调节点，从而为复杂细胞途径提供驱动力和时空协调。
