Abstract
Protein science has moved from a focus on individual molecules to an integrated perspective in which proteins emerge as dynamic players with multiple functions, rather than monofunctional specialists. Annotation of the full functional repertoire of proteins has impacted the fields of biochemistry and genetics, and will continue to influence basic and applied science questions – from the genotype-to-phenotype problem, to our understanding of human pathologies and drug design. In this review, we address the phenomena of pleiotropy, multidomain proteins, promiscuity, and protein moonlighting, providing examples of multitasking biomolecules that underlie specific mechanisms of human disease. In doing so, we place in context different types of multifunctional proteins, highlighting useful attributes for their systematic definition and classification in future research directions.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 451 |
| Journal | Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology |
| Volume | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 10 Jun 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank L. Delaye and N. Selem for critical reading of the manuscript. Funding. Research in the DeLuna lab is funded by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología de México (Grants CB2015/254365 and PN2016/2370). AE-C received funding from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation during the writing of this manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2020 Espinosa-Cantú, Cruz-Bonilla, Noda-Garcia and DeLuna.
Keywords
- gene ontology
- mechanisms of disease
- moonlighting proteins
- multidomain proteins
- pleiotropy
- protein promiscuity
