title: Intrinsically disordered proteins and multicellular organisms.
abstract: Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and IDP regions lack stable tertiary structure yet carry out numerous biological functions, especially those associated with signaling, transcription regulation, DNA condensation, cell division, and cellular differentiation. Both post-translational modifications (PTMs) and alternative splicing (AS) expand the functional repertoire of IDPs. Here we propose that an "IDP-based developmental toolkit," which is comprised of IDP regions, PTMs, especially multiple PTMs, within these IDP regions, and AS events within segments of pre-mRNA that code for these same IDP regions, allows functional diversification and environmental responsiveness for molecules that direct the development of complex metazoans.
authors.affiliation: Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University Schools of Medicine and Informatics, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States. Electronic address: kedunker@iu.edu.
authors.forename: A Keith
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Dunker
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station, TX 77843, United States. Electronic address: SEBondos@medicine.tamhsc.edu.
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Bondos
authors.affiliation: Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University Schools of Medicine and Informatics, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States. Electronic address: huangfei@umail.iu.edu.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University Schools of Medicine and Informatics, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States. Electronic address: cjoldfie@iu.edu.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Oldfield
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D064267:Intrinsically Disordered Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011387:Prokaryotic Cells / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D017510:Protein Folding; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational
chemical_list: D064267:Intrinsically Disordered Proteins
keywords: Alternative splicing; Cell cycle; Differentiation; Intrinsic disorder; Post-translational modification; Signaling