How proteins talk to each other

Monday, September 21, 2009 - 17:35 in Biology & Nature

Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have identified novel cleavage sites for the enzyme caspase-3 (an enzyme that proteolytically cleaves target proteins). Using an advanced proteomic technique called N-terminomics, Guy Salvesen, Ph.D., professor and director of the Apoptosis and Cell Death Research program of Burnham's NCI-designated Cancer Center, and colleagues determined the cleavage sites on target proteins and found, contrary to previous understanding, that caspase-3 targets α-helices as well as unstructured loops. In addition, researchers found that caspase-3 and the substrates it binds to co-evolved. The paper was published on September 20 in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.

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