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Cotranslational protein assembly imposes evolutionary constraints on homomeric proteins
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Cotranslational protein assembly imposes evolutionary constraints on homomeric proteins

Eviatar Natan, Tamaki Endoh, Liora Haim-Vilmovsky, Tilman Flock, Guilhem Chalancon, Jonathan T. S. Hopper, Bilint Kintses, Peter Horvath, Lejla Daruka, Gergely Fekete, …
Nature structural & molecular biology, Vol.25(3), pp.279-288
03/01/2018
DOI: 10.1038/s41594-018-0029-5
PMCID: PMC5995306
PMID: 29434345

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Abstract

Cotranslational protein folding can facilitate rapid formation of functional structures. However, it can also cause premature assembly of protein complexes, if two interacting nascent chains are in close proximity. By analyzing known protein structures, we show that homomeric protein contacts are enriched toward the C termini of polypeptide chains across diverse proteomes. We hypothesize that this is the result of evolutionary constraints for folding to occur before assembly. Using high-throughput imaging of protein homomers in Escherichia coil and engineered protein constructs with N- and C-terminal oligomerization domains, we show that, indeed, proteins with C-terminal homomeric interface residues consistently assemble more efficiently than those with N- terminal interface residues. Using in vivo, in vitro and in silico experiments, we identify features that govern successful assembly of homomers, which have implications for protein design and expression optimization.
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Biophysics Cell Biology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Science & Technology

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