To Tie or Not to Tie? That Is the Question
In this review, we provide an overview of entangled proteins. Around 6% of protein structures deposited in the PBD are entangled, forming knots, slipknots, lassos and links. We present theoretical methods and tools that enabled discovering and classifying such structures. We discuss the advantages a...
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doaj-434dc344c33143e299b0fb1514029f852020-11-24T20:47:19ZengMDPI AGPolymers2073-43602017-09-019945410.3390/polym9090454polym9090454To Tie or Not to Tie? That Is the QuestionPawel Dabrowski-Tumanski0Joanna I. Sulkowska1Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw, Warsaw 02-097, PolandCentre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw, Warsaw 02-097, PolandIn this review, we provide an overview of entangled proteins. Around 6% of protein structures deposited in the PBD are entangled, forming knots, slipknots, lassos and links. We present theoretical methods and tools that enabled discovering and classifying such structures. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the non-trivial topology in proteins, based on available data about folding, stability, biological properties and evolutionary conservation. We also formulate intriguing and challenging questions on the border of biophysics, bioinformatics, biology and mathematics, which arise from the discovery of an entanglement in proteins. Finally, we discuss possible applications of entangled proteins in medicine and nanotechnology, such as the chance to design super stable proteins, whose stability could be controlled by chemical potential.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/9/9/454knotslinklassotopologypolymerdisulfide |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Pawel Dabrowski-Tumanski Joanna I. Sulkowska |
spellingShingle |
Pawel Dabrowski-Tumanski Joanna I. Sulkowska To Tie or Not to Tie? That Is the Question Polymers knots link lasso topology polymer disulfide |
author_facet |
Pawel Dabrowski-Tumanski Joanna I. Sulkowska |
author_sort |
Pawel Dabrowski-Tumanski |
title |
To Tie or Not to Tie? That Is the Question |
title_short |
To Tie or Not to Tie? That Is the Question |
title_full |
To Tie or Not to Tie? That Is the Question |
title_fullStr |
To Tie or Not to Tie? That Is the Question |
title_full_unstemmed |
To Tie or Not to Tie? That Is the Question |
title_sort |
to tie or not to tie? that is the question |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Polymers |
issn |
2073-4360 |
publishDate |
2017-09-01 |
description |
In this review, we provide an overview of entangled proteins. Around 6% of protein structures deposited in the PBD are entangled, forming knots, slipknots, lassos and links. We present theoretical methods and tools that enabled discovering and classifying such structures. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the non-trivial topology in proteins, based on available data about folding, stability, biological properties and evolutionary conservation. We also formulate intriguing and challenging questions on the border of biophysics, bioinformatics, biology and mathematics, which arise from the discovery of an entanglement in proteins. Finally, we discuss possible applications of entangled proteins in medicine and nanotechnology, such as the chance to design super stable proteins, whose stability could be controlled by chemical potential. |
topic |
knots link lasso topology polymer disulfide |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/9/9/454 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT paweldabrowskitumanski totieornottotiethatisthequestion AT joannaisulkowska totieornottotiethatisthequestion |
_version_ |
1716810377083224064 |