Variation on an Src-like theme.
The modularity of protein architecture and the diversity of protein domains hint at a vast combinatorial richness. But evolution appears to have been relatively conservative about selecting new combinations. When a particular grouping of domains within a polypeptide chain can perform a concerted function, that combination tends to reappear in multiple genomic contexts. In other words, once a molecular solution to a functional problem has emerged, it is reused rather than reinvented.
Harrison
Stephen C
SC
Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Children's Hospital, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA. harrison@crystal.harvard.edu
D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D016391:Genes, src; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D016315:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-abl / Q000737:chemistry; D018909:src Homology Domains / Q000235:genetics
D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D016315:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-abl