Beyond Microsatellite Instability: Intrinsic Disorder as a Potential Link Between Protein Short Tandem Repeats and Cancer.

ABSTRACT: Short tandem repeats (STRs) are abundant in genomic sequences and are known for comparatively high mutation rates; STRs therefore are thought to be a potent source of genetic diversity. In protein-coding sequences STRs primarily encode disorder-promoting amino acids and are often located in intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs). STRs are frequently studied in the scope of microsatellite instability (MSI) in cancer, with little focus on the connection between protein STRs and IDRs. We believe, however, that this relationship should be explicitly included when ascertaining STR functionality in cancer. Here we explore this notion using all canonical human proteins from SwissProt, wherein we detected 3,699 STRs. Over 80% of these consisted completely of disorder promoting amino acids. 62.1%

SUBMITTER: Verbiest MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9581044 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature