Uncovering the Association Mechanism between Two Intrinsically Flexible Proteins.

The understanding of protein-protein interaction mechanisms is key to the atomistic description of cell signaling pathways and for the development of new drugs. In this context, the mechanism of intrinsically disordered proteins folding upon binding has attracted attention. The VirB9 C-terminal domain (VirB9) and the VirB7 N-terminal motif (VirB7) associate with VirB10 to form the outer membrane core complex of the Type IV Secretion System injectisome.