TY - JOUR
T1 - Chronoregulation by asparagine deamidation.
AU - Weintraub, Steven J.
AU - Deverman, Benjamin E.
N1 - Copyright:
This record is sourced from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
PY - 2007/10/23
Y1 - 2007/10/23
N2 - Every asparagine in every protein undergoes nonenzymatic deamidation to aspartate or isoaspartate at a rate determined by the surrounding protein structure and cellular environment. Under physiologic conditions, the deamidation half-life of individual asparagines in proteins is proposed to range from less than a day to several centuries. More than 200 proteins have been shown to undergo deamidation to a meaningful degree, and modeling predicts that hundreds more undergo deamidation at rates that have the potential to be of biological consequence. Because deamidation converts an asparagine into an aspartate or isoaspartate, it introduces a negative charge into a protein and results in the isomerization of a residue. Therefore, deamidation has the potential to change protein function. Additionally, deamidation is thought to render some proteins more susceptible to degradation. In most instances in which asparagine deamidation has been identified in vivo, it is involved in pathology. Hence, deamidation has been viewed primarily as a form of protein damage. However, the pervasiveness and evolutionary persistence of these unstable asparagines suggest that they may have a beneficial role. Notably, the change of even a single neighboring amino acid can have a marked effect on the rate of deamidation of an asparagine. Therefore, the underlying rate of deamidation of any asparagine is genetically programmable. This characteristic, combined with the wide range of deamidation rates that can be programmed, imparts to asparagines the potential to serve as molecular timers that regulate protein function and stability.
AB - Every asparagine in every protein undergoes nonenzymatic deamidation to aspartate or isoaspartate at a rate determined by the surrounding protein structure and cellular environment. Under physiologic conditions, the deamidation half-life of individual asparagines in proteins is proposed to range from less than a day to several centuries. More than 200 proteins have been shown to undergo deamidation to a meaningful degree, and modeling predicts that hundreds more undergo deamidation at rates that have the potential to be of biological consequence. Because deamidation converts an asparagine into an aspartate or isoaspartate, it introduces a negative charge into a protein and results in the isomerization of a residue. Therefore, deamidation has the potential to change protein function. Additionally, deamidation is thought to render some proteins more susceptible to degradation. In most instances in which asparagine deamidation has been identified in vivo, it is involved in pathology. Hence, deamidation has been viewed primarily as a form of protein damage. However, the pervasiveness and evolutionary persistence of these unstable asparagines suggest that they may have a beneficial role. Notably, the change of even a single neighboring amino acid can have a marked effect on the rate of deamidation of an asparagine. Therefore, the underlying rate of deamidation of any asparagine is genetically programmable. This characteristic, combined with the wide range of deamidation rates that can be programmed, imparts to asparagines the potential to serve as molecular timers that regulate protein function and stability.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=38449123879&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1126/stke.4092007re7
DO - 10.1126/stke.4092007re7
M3 - Article
C2 - 17957089
AN - SCOPUS:38449123879
VL - 2007
SP - re7
JO - Science's STKE : signal transduction knowledge environment
JF - Science's STKE : signal transduction knowledge environment
SN - 1525-8882
IS - 409
ER -