Ribonuclease A suggests how proteins self-chaperone against amyloid fiber formation.

ABSTRACT: Genomic analyses have identified segments with high fiber-forming propensity in many proteins not known to form amyloid. Proteins are often protected from entering the amyloid state by molecular chaperones that permit them to fold in isolation from identical molecules; but, how do proteins self-chaperone their folding in the absence of chaperones? Here, we explore this question with the stable protein ribonuclease A (RNase A). We previously identified fiber-forming segments of amyloid-related proteins and demonstrated that insertion of these segments into the C-terminal hinge loop of nonfiber-forming RNase A can convert RNase A into the amyloid state through three-dimensional domain-swapping, where the inserted fiber-forming segments interact to create a steric zipper spine. In this study,

SUBMITTER: Teng PK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3323778 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature