Mechanisms of protein oligomerization, the critical role of insertions and deletions in maintaining different oligomeric states.

ABSTRACT: The main principles of protein-protein recognition are elucidated by the studies of homooligomers which in turn mediate and regulate gene expression, activity of enzymes, ion channels, receptors, and cell-cell adhesion processes. Here we explore oligomeric states of homologous proteins in various organisms to better understand the functional roles and evolutionary mechanisms of homooligomerization. We observe a great diversity in mechanisms controlling oligomerization and focus in our study on insertions and deletions in homologous proteins and how they enable or disable complex formation. We show that insertions and deletions which differentiate monomers and dimers have a significant tendency to be located on the interaction interfaces and about a quarter of all proteins studied and forty

SUBMITTER: Hashimoto K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2996646 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature