Das Madhurima, Chen Nanhao, LiWang Andy, Wang Lee-Ping
School of Natural Sciences, University of California, Merced, California, USA.
Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis, California, USA.
Biopolymers. 2021 Oct;112(10):e23473. doi: 10.1002/bip.23473. Epub 2021 Sep 16.
Proteins that can reversibly alternate between distinctly different folds under native conditions are described as being metamorphic. The "metamorphome" is the collection of all metamorphic proteins in the proteome, but it remains unknown the extent to which the proteome is populated by this class of proteins. We propose that uncovering the metamorphome will require a synergy of computational screening of protein sequences to identify potential metamorphic behavior and validation through experimental techniques. This perspective discusses computational and experimental approaches that are currently used to predict and characterize metamorphic proteins as well as the need for developing improved methodologies. Since metamorphic proteins act as molecular switches, understanding their properties and behavior could lead to novel applications of these proteins as sensors in biological or environmental contexts.
在天然条件下能够在明显不同的折叠状态之间可逆转换的蛋白质被称为变构蛋白。“变构蛋白组”是蛋白质组中所有变构蛋白的集合，但这类蛋白质在蛋白质组中的占比仍不清楚。我们认为，要揭示变构蛋白组，需要将蛋白质序列的计算筛选与实验技术验证相结合。本文探讨了目前用于预测和表征变构蛋白的计算和实验方法，以及开发改进方法的必要性。由于变构蛋白起着分子开关的作用，了解它们的特性和行为可能会使这些蛋白质在生物或环境背景下作为传感器得到新的应用。
