Biological Roles of Protein Kinetic Stability.

Biochemistry

Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, ‡Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, and §Biochemistry and Biophysics Graduate Program, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180, United States.

Published: November 2017

A protein's stability may range from nonexistent, as in the case of intrinsically disordered proteins, to very high, as indicated by a protein's resistance to degradation, even under relatively harsh conditions. The stability of this latter group is usually under kinetic control because of a high activation energy for unfolding that virtually traps the protein in a specific conformation, thereby conferring resistance to proteolytic degradation and misfolding aggregation. The usual outcome of kinetic stability is a longer protein half-life. Thus, the protective role of protein kinetic stability is often appreciated, but relatively little is known about the extent of biological roles related to this property. In this Perspective, we will discuss several known or putative biological roles of protein kinetic stability, including protection from stressors to avoid aggregation or premature degradation, achieving long-term phenotypic change, and regulating cellular processes by controlling the trigger and timing of molecular motion. The picture that emerges from this analysis is that protein kinetic stability is involved in a myriad of known and yet to be discovered biological functions via its ability to confer degradation resistance and control the timing, extent, and permanency of molecular motion.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.biochem.7b00942DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

kinetic stability
20
protein kinetic
16
biological roles
12
roles protein
8
molecular motion
8
stability
7
protein
6
kinetic
6
biological
4
stability protein's
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!