An Evolutionary Trade-Off between Protein Turnover Rate and Protein Aggregation Favors a Higher Aggregation Propensity in Fast Degrading Proteins
2011

Protein Turnover and Aggregation: A Trade-Off

Sample size: 611 publication 10 minutes Evidence: high

Author Information

Author(s): De Baets Greet, Reumers Joke, Delgado Blanco Javier, Dopazo Joaquin, Schymkowitz Joost, Rousseau Frederic

Primary Institution: VIB Switch Laboratory, VIB, Brussels, Belgium

Hypothesis

Do proteins with a short lifetime have a higher aggregation propensity than long-living proteins?

Conclusion

Short-living proteins tend to aggregate more and interact less with chaperones compared to long-living proteins.

Supporting Evidence

  • Short-living proteins have a higher aggregation propensity than long-living proteins.
  • Short-living proteins interact less with molecular chaperones.
  • Proteins with a short biological lifetime experience less selective pressure to minimize aggregation.

Takeaway

Some proteins break down quickly, but they can also clump together more easily, which can be a problem as we age.

Methodology

The study combined experimental turnover rates, expression data, structural data, and chaperone interaction data on a set of proteins to analyze their aggregation propensity.

Limitations

The study focused only on short-stretch mediated protein aggregation and excluded other aggregation mechanisms.

Participant Demographics

The dataset included proteins from 532 healthy individuals.

Statistical Information

P-Value

p<0.001

Statistical Significance

p<0.001

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002090

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