Sequestration shapes the response of signal transduction cascades.
Many signal transduction cascades are composed of covalent modification cycles such as kinase/phosphatase cycles. In the 1980s Goldbeter and Koshland showed that such cycles can exhibit non-linear input-output relations when the enzymes are saturated by their substrates, which may facilitate signal processing. Recent papers show that this mechanism is unlikely to cause non-linearity in mammalian signal transduction cascades as sequestration of the target due to enzyme concentrations present in these cascades will hamper this mechanism. However, sequestration due to high-affinity enzymes can shape the dynamics and steady-state behaviour of signal transduction cascades in different ways, some of which are discussed in this review.
Blüthgen
Nils
N
Molecular Neurobiology, Free University Berlin, and Institute for Theoretical Biology, Humboldt University Berlin, Berlin, Germany. nils@itb.biologie.hu-berlin.de
D007700:Kinetics; D008954:Models, Biological; D010744:Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D010770:Phosphotransferases / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*
D010770:Phosphotransferases; D010744:Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases