Department of Molecular Medicine and Byrd Alzheimer's Research Institute, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, U.S.A.
Biochem J. 2021 Aug 13;478(15):3015-3024. doi: 10.1042/BCJ20210146.
This perspective article describes some of the key points of my personal journey through the intriguing world of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). It also shows the evolution of my perception of functional proteins from a standard lock-and-key theory, where a unique function is defined by a unique 3D structure, to the structure-function continuum model, where the structural heterogeneity and conformational plasticity of IDPs define their remarkable multifunctionality and binding promiscuity. These personal accounts of the difficult and lengthy transition from order to disorder paralleled the uneasy and challenging transition in the mind of the scientific community from disbelief in intrinsic disorder to acceptance of IDPs as real entities that play critical biological roles. I hope that this perspective will be of interest to the readers of this journal.
这篇观点文章描述了我个人在探索无序蛋白质（IDPs）这一有趣世界过程中的一些要点。它还展示了我对功能蛋白的看法从标准的锁钥理论到结构-功能连续体模型的演变，在这个模型中，IDPs 的结构异质性和构象灵活性决定了它们显著的多功能性和结合的混杂性。这些从有序到无序的艰难而漫长的转变的个人经历，与科学界从不相信固有无序到接受 IDPs 作为发挥关键生物学作用的真实实体的这一艰难而富有挑战性的思维转变相呼应。我希望这篇观点文章能引起本期刊读者的兴趣。
