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Cell biology

Brief encounters bolster contacts

Nature volume 444, pages 279–280 (2006)Cite this article

Molecules often work together in complexes to carry out their functions in the cell. But how do they get together in such a dynamic environment? A structural study follows proteins as they meet their partners.

Living cells, particularly during growth and proliferation, need regulatory processes of great sensitivity and high specificity. To achieve this, signal-to-noise ratios must be high when information is received and transmitted between the cell surface, the cytoplasm and the nucleus. Just like electrical and engineering control systems, living cells have complex signalling pathways that are moderated by feedback mechanisms. It is becoming increasingly clear that most switches, transducers and adaptors in living systems are created by the assembly and disassembly of multi-component complexes of proteins, nucleic acids and other molecules1. On page 383 of this issue, Tang et al.2 follow the formation of such complexes, and provide structural evidence for the transient interactions necessary to build them Footnote 1.

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Figure 1: Protein–protein interactions.

Notes

  1. This article and the paper concerned2 were published online on 15 October 2006.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, CB2 1GA, Cambridge, UK

    Tom L. Blundell

  2. Institute of Biomedical Research, Barcelona Science Park, Barcelona, 08028, Spain

    Juan Fernández-Recio

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  1. Tom L. Blundell
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  2. Juan Fernández-Recio
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Blundell, T., Fernández-Recio, J. Brief encounters bolster contacts. Nature 444, 279–280 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05306

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