The curious case of protein splicing: mechanistic insights suggested by protein semisynthesis.
The gradual accumulation of examples of protein splicing, in which a nested intervening sequence is spliced out of the interior of a polyprotein precursor, suggests that this curious phenomenon might prove to have universal phylogenetic distribution and biological significance. The known examples are reviewed, with the aim of establishing underlying patterns, and a generalized mechanism of autocatalytic protein splicing is proposed. The testable consequences of such a proposal and the possible evolutionary origins of the phenomenon are discussed.
Department of Biochemistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
C J
CJ
Wallace
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004706:Endodeoxyribonucleases / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008954:Models, Biological; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000378:metabolism*; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D006180:Proton-Translocating ATPases; D011938:Rec A Recombinases / Q000096:biosynthesis; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
D011498:Protein Precursors; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D003208:Concanavalin A; D011938:Rec A Recombinases; C070331:Tli polymerase; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase; D004706:Endodeoxyribonucleases; D006180:Proton-Translocating ATPases; C081687:VMA1 protein, S cerevisiae