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Towards a Functional Understanding of Protein N-Terminal Acetylation

2011; Public Library of Science; Volume: 9; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1371/journal.pbio.1001074

1545-7885

Thomas Arnesen,

Signaling Pathways in Disease

Protein N-terminal acetylation is a major modification of eukaryotic proteins. Its functional implications include regulation of protein–protein interactions and targeting to membranes, as demonstrated by studies of a handful of proteins. Fifty years after its discovery, a potential general function of the N-terminal acetyl group carried by thousands of unique proteins remains enigmatic. However, recent functional data suggest roles for N-terminal acetylation as a degradation signal and as a determining factor for preventing protein targeting to the secretory pathway, thus highlighting N-terminal acetylation as a major determinant for the life and death of proteins. These contributions represent new and intriguing hypotheses that will guide the research in the years to come.