Insight
Nature 426, 884-890 (18 December 2003) | doi:10.1038/nature02261
Protein folding and misfolding
Christopher M. Dobson1
Abstract
The manner in which a newly synthesized chain of amino acids transforms itself into a perfectly folded protein depends both on the intrinsic properties of the amino-acid sequence and on multiple contributing influences from the crowded cellular milieu. Folding and unfolding are crucial ways of regulating biological activity and targeting proteins to different cellular locations. Aggregation of misfolded proteins that escape the cellular quality-control mechanisms is a common feature of a wide range of highly debilitating and increasingly prevalent diseases.
- University of Cambridge, Department of Chemistry, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK Email: cmd44@cam.ac.uk