'Effective inefficiency': cellular control of protein trafficking as a mechanism of post-translational regulation.
The great writer and polyglot, W Somerset Maugham said, 'I'll give you my opinion of the human race in a nutshell...their heart's in the right place, but their head is a thoroughly inefficient organ.' If his words are applied to trafficking of the human pituitary gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor, it turns out that he was more right than he knew. Paradoxically, the inefficiency of receptor trafficking to the plasma membrane can bring regulatory advantages to cells. Understanding the mechanism by which cells recognize correctly folded proteins in health and disease opens doors to new therapeutic approaches and provides a more accurate view of mechanisms of normal cell function than is presently available.
Conn
P Michael
PM
Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, OR 97006, USA. connm@ohsu.edu
Janovick
Jo Ann
JA
Brothers
Shaun P
SP
Knollman
Paul E
PE
D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D023421:Models, Animal; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000378:metabolism*; D017510:Protein Folding; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D021381:Protein Transport; D011966:Receptors, LHRH / Q000378:metabolism*; D013045:Species Specificity
D011966:Receptors, LHRH