Institute of Protein Research, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142290 Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia.
Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117871 Moscow, Russia.
Molecules. 2022 Jul 7;27(14):4361. doi: 10.3390/molecules27144361.
Quite a long time ago, Oleg B. Ptitsyn put forward a hypothesis about the possible functional significance of the molten globule (MG) state for the functioning of proteins. MG is an intermediate between the unfolded and the native state of a protein. Its experimental detection and investigation in a cell are extremely difficult. In the last decades, intensive studies have demonstrated that the MG-like state of some globular proteins arises from either their modifications or interactions with protein partners or other cell components. This review summarizes such reports. In many cases, MG was evidenced to be functionally important. Thus, the MG state is quite common for functional cellular proteins. This supports Ptitsyn's hypothesis that some globular proteins may switch between two active states, rigid (N) and soft (MG), to work in solution or interact with partners.
很久以前，Oleg B. Ptitsyn 提出了关于蛋白质的熔融球蛋白（MG）状态可能具有功能意义的假说。MG 是蛋白质展开状态和天然状态之间的中间体。在细胞中检测和研究其非常困难。在过去的几十年中，密集的研究表明，一些球状蛋白质的类似 MG 的状态是由于它们的修饰或与蛋白质伴侣或其他细胞成分的相互作用而产生的。这篇综述总结了这样的报告。在许多情况下，已经证明 MG 具有重要的功能。因此，MG 状态对于功能性细胞蛋白质来说是非常常见的。这支持了 Ptitsyn 的假说，即一些球状蛋白质可能在两种活性状态（刚性（N）和柔软（MG））之间切换，以在溶液中发挥作用或与伴侣相互作用。
