Compound Dynamics and Combinatorial Patterns of Amino Acid Repeats Encode a System of Evolutionary and Developmental Markers.

ABSTRACT: Homopolymeric amino acid repeats (AARs) like polyalanine (polyA) and polyglutamine (polyQ) in some developmental proteins (DPs) regulate certain aspects of organismal morphology and behavior, suggesting an evolutionary role for AARs as developmental "tuning knobs." It is still unclear, however, whether these are occasional protein-specific phenomena or hints at the existence of a whole AAR-based regulatory system in DPs. Using novel approaches to trace their functional and evolutionary history, we find quantitative evidence supporting a generalized, combinatorial role of AARs in developmental processes with evolutionary implications. We observe nonrandom AAR distributions and combinations in HOX and other DPs, as well as in their interactomes, defining elements of a proteome-wide combinato

SUBMITTER: Pelassa I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6839033 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature