AI Article Synopsis
- Post-translational lipidation, specifically prenylation of the CaaX-box motif, helps anchor proteins like Ras and Rab to cellular membranes in eukaryotes.
- Certain bacterial effectors that enter host cells may use similar mechanisms for anchoring to host membranes, a concept supported by existing research involving Legionella and Salmonella.
- Researchers suggest using the CaaX-box as a tagging method for proteins in eukaryotic cells to better understand their biological roles.
Article Abstract
Post-translational lipidation by prenylation of the CaaX-box C-terminal motif in eukaryotic proteins facilitates anchoring of hydrophilic proteins, such as Ras and Rab, to membranes. A large cadre of bacterial effectors injected into host cells is anchored to host membranes by unknown mechanisms. As already documented for Legionella and Salmonella, we propose a common paradigm of microbial exploitation of the host prenylation machinery for anchoring of injected effectors to host membranes. This is supported by numerous potential microbial CaaX-box-containing proteins identified using refined bioinformatic tools. We also propose utilization of the CaaX motif as a membrane-targeting tag for proteins expressed in eukaryotic cells to facilitate deciphering of biological function.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2011.08.003 | DOI Listing |
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