Rampant exchange of the structure and function of extramembrane domains between membrane and water soluble proteins.

ABSTRACT: Of the membrane proteins of known structure, we found that a remarkable 67% of the water soluble domains are structurally similar to water soluble proteins of known structure. Moreover, 41% of known water soluble protein structures share a domain with an already known membrane protein structure. We also found that functional residues are frequently conserved between extramembrane domains of membrane and soluble proteins that share structural similarity. These results suggest membrane and soluble proteins readily exchange domains and their attendant functionalities. The exchanges between membrane and soluble proteins are particularly frequent in eukaryotes, indicating that this is an important mechanism for increasing functional complexity. The high level of structural overlap between the t

SUBMITTER: Nam HJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3605051 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature