Per Aspera Ad Chaos: a Personal Journey to the Wonderland of Intrinsic Disorder
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2021
Keywords
Intrinsically Disordered Proteins, Protein Conformation, Protein Structure, Structure–function Continuum
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1042/BCJ20210146
Abstract
This perspective article describes some of the key points of my personal journey through the intriguing world of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). It also shows the evolution of my perception of functional proteins from a standard lock-and-key theory, where a unique function is defined by a unique 3D structure, to the structure–function continuum model, where the structural heterogeneity and conformational plasticity of IDPs define their remarkable multifunctionality and binding promiscuity. These personal accounts of the difficult and lengthy transition from order to disorder paralleled the uneasy and challenging transition in the mind of the scientific community from disbelief in intrinsic disorder to acceptance of IDPs as real entities that play critical biological roles. I hope that this perspective will be of interest to the readers of this journal.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Biochemistry, v. 478, issue 15, p. 3015-3024
Scholar Commons Citation
Uversky, Vladimir N., " Per Aspera Ad Chaos: a Personal Journey to the Wonderland of Intrinsic Disorder" (2021). Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications. 906.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/mme_facpub/906
