title: Physiological importance of poly-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrates.
abstract: Poly-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrates (PHB), linear polymers of (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate, are components of all biological cells in which short polymers (<200 monomer residues) are covalently attached to certain proteins and/or noncovalently associated with polyphosphates - inorganic polyphosphate (polyP), RNA, and DNA. The low concentrations, lack of unusual atoms or functional groups, and flexible backbones of this complexed PHB, referred to as cPHB, make them invisible to many analytical procedures; whereas other physical properties - water-insolubility, high intrinsic viscosity, temperature sensitivity, multiple bonding interactions with other molecules - make them requisite participants in vital physiological processes as well as contributors to the development of certain diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. rnreusch@msu.edu
authors.forename: Rosetta N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Reusch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D006885:Hydroxybutyrates / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D017136:Ion Transport; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D011122:Polyphosphates / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D000091402:Prohibitins; D000094122:Polyhydroxybutyrates
chemical_list: D006885:Hydroxybutyrates; D007473:Ion Channels; D011091:Polyesters; D011122:Polyphosphates; D000091402:Prohibitins; C000717328:PHB protein, human; C003182:poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate; D000094122:Polyhydroxybutyrates