Current Protein and Peptide Science - Volume 9, Issue 2, 2008

In recent years, a strong emphasis has been given in deciphering the function of genes unraveled by the completion of several genome sequencing projects. In plants, functional genomics has been massively used in order to search for gene products of agronomic relevance. As far as root-pathogen interactions are concerned, several genes are recognized to provide tolerance/resistance against potential invaders. However Read More

Biosynthesis of the universal terpenoid precursors, isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP), from three acetyl CoA moieties through mevalonate was studied extensively in the 1950s. For several decades, the mevalonate paradigm reigned supreme and a mevalonate origin was attributed to a growing number of natural products, in many cases erroneously. Besides this biosynthetic pathwa Read More

Gram-negative bacteria, especially Escherichia coli, are often the preferred hosts for recombinant protein production because of their fast doubling times, ability to grow to high cell density, propensity for high recombinant protein titers and straightforward protein purification techniques. The utility of simple bacteria in such studies continues to improve as a result of an ever-increasing body of knowledge regarding their native Read More

Understanding the function of macromolecular complexes is related to a precise knowledge of their structure. These large complexes are often fragile high molecular mass noncovalent multimeric proteins. Classical biochemical methods for determination of their native mass and subunit composition were used to resolve their quaternary structure, sometimes leading to different models. Recently, the development of mass Read More

Computer simulations of proteins, lipids and nucleic acids at equilibrium have become essentially routine. However, the fact remains that complete sampling of conformational space continues to be a bottle-neck in the field. The challenge for the future is to overcome such problems and use computational approaches to understand recognition and spontaneous self-organization in biomolecular systems (folding, aggregation a Read More

The term ‘tethering factor’ has been coined for a heterogeneous group of proteins that all are required for protein trafficking prior to vesicle docking and SNARE-mediated membrane fusion. Two groups of tethering factors can be distinguished, long coiled-coil proteins and multi-subunit complexes. To date, eight such protein complexes have been identified in yeast, and they are required for different trafficking steps. Ho Read More