Title | The Levinthal paradox of the interactome. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2011 |
Authors | Tompa, P., and G. D. Rose |
Journal | Protein Sci |
Volume | 20 |
Issue | 12 |
Pagination | 2074-9 |
Date Published | 2011 Dec |
ISSN | 1469-896X |
Keywords | Fungal Proteins, Models, Biological, Models, Statistical, Protein Folding, Protein Interaction Mapping, Proteome, Yeasts |
Abstract | The central biological question of the 21st century is: how does a viable cell emerge from the bewildering combinatorial complexity of its molecular components? Here, we estimate the combinatorics of self-assembling the protein constituents of a yeast cell, a number so vast that the functional interactome could only have emerged by iterative hierarchic assembly of its component sub-assemblies. A protein can undergo both reversible denaturation and hierarchic self-assembly spontaneously, but a functioning interactome must expend energy to achieve viability. Consequently, it is implausible that a completely "denatured" cell could be reversibly renatured spontaneously, like a protein. Instead, new cells are generated by the division of pre-existing cells, an unbroken chain of renewal tracking back through contingent conditions and evolving responses to the origin of life on the prebiotic earth. We surmise that this non-deterministic temporal continuum could not be reconstructed de novo under present conditions. |
DOI | 10.1002/pro.747 |
Alternate Journal | Protein Sci. |
PubMed ID | 21987416 |
PubMed Central ID | PMC3302650 |
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