Shaping membranes with disordered proteins

Mohammad A.A. Fakhree, Christian Blum, Mireille M.A.E. Claessens*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articleAcademicpeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Membrane proteins control and shape membrane trafficking processes. The role of protein structure in shaping cellular membranes is well established. However, a significant fraction of membrane proteins is disordered or contains long disordered regions. It becomes more and more clear that these disordered regions contribute to the function of membrane proteins. While the fold of a structured protein is essential for its function, being disordered seems to be a crucial feature of membrane bound intrinsically disordered proteins and protein regions. Here we outline the motifs that encode function in disordered proteins and discuss how these functional motifs enable disordered proteins to modulate membrane properties. These changes in membrane properties facilitate and regulate membrane trafficking processes which are highly abundant in eukaryotes.

Original languageEnglish
Article number108163
JournalArchives of biochemistry and biophysics
Volume677
Early online date29 Oct 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Nov 2019

Keywords

  • Disordered proteins
  • Membrane curvature
  • Membrane domains
  • Membrane tethering
  • Membranes

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