Determinants of specificity in two-component signal transduction
Author(s)
Podgornaia, Anna Igorevna
Laub, Michael T
Date Issued
January 2013
Journal
Current Opinion in Microbiology
Publisher
Elsevier
Citation
Podgornaia, Anna I., and Michael T. Laub. “Determinants of Specificity in Two-Component Signal Transduction.” Current Opinion in Microbiology 16, no. 2 (April 2013): 156-162.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Maintaining the faithful flow of information through signal transduction pathways is critical to the survival and proliferation of organisms. This problem is particularly challenging as many signaling proteins are part of large, paralogous families that are highly similar at the sequence and structural levels, increasing the risk of unwanted cross-talk. To detect environmental signals and process information, bacteria rely heavily on two-component signaling systems comprised of sensor histidine kinases and their cognate response regulators. Although most species encode dozens of these signaling pathways, there is relatively little cross-talk, indicating that individual pathways are well insulated and highly specific. Here, we review the molecular mechanisms that enforce this specificity. Further, we highlight recent studies that have revealed how these mechanisms evolve to accommodate the introduction of new pathways by gene duplication.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Computational and Systems Biology Program
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mib.2013.01.004
