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The curious case of protein splicing: Mechanistic insights suggested by protein semisynthesis
Author(s) -
Wallace CARMICHAEL J.A.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
protein science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.353
H-Index - 175
eISSN - 1469-896X
pISSN - 0961-8368
DOI - 10.1002/pro.5560020501
Subject(s) - semisynthesis , rna splicing , mechanism (biology) , biology , computational biology , protein evolution , protein splicing , phenomenon , alternative splicing , evolutionary biology , sequence (biology) , genetics , gene , exon , biochemistry , rna , philosophy , epistemology
The gradual accumulation of examples of protein splicing, in which a nested intervening sequence is spliced out of the interior of a polyprotein precursor, suggests that this curious phenomenon might prove to have universal phylogenetic distribution and biological significance. The known examples are reviewed, with the aim of establishing underlying patterns, and a generalized mechanism of autocatalytic protein splicing is proposed. The testable consequences of such a proposal and the possible evolutionary origins of the phenomenon are discussed.