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Secret identities aren't just for superheroes anymore. Researchers have found that a protein present in everything from amoebas to people is living a double life. Once it binds to DNA, the protein, called RfaH, rips apart—and then refolds into a different shape, to do a different job.
秘密身份不再專屬于超級(jí)英雄。研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)一種普遍存在于動(dòng)物體內(nèi)（從變形蟲到人類）的蛋白質(zhì)正過著雙重生活。一旦將它與DNA綁定，這種叫做RfaH的蛋白質(zhì)就會(huì)分裂，然后折疊形成形狀迥異，分工不同的另一種蛋白質(zhì)。
RfaH is a transcription protein—attached to or freed from a stretch of DNA, it determines if a gene is expressed or not. But once the protein has carried out its task, its helical structure unravels. Within seconds, it refolds into a barrel structure, which has a new role, this time in translation, where it helps the cell produce amino acids for new proteins. The study is in the journal Cell.
RfaH是一種轉(zhuǎn)錄蛋白因子，它粘附于一簇DNA序列，或者脫離DNA序列獨(dú)立存在。由它來決定是否表達(dá)某個(gè)基因。但是一旦蛋白質(zhì)執(zhí)行完任務(wù)，它的螺旋結(jié)構(gòu)就會(huì)崩潰。不出幾秒，它又重組成桶錐形結(jié)構(gòu)，這次它扮演新的角色，即在基因轉(zhuǎn)譯過程中幫助細(xì)胞產(chǎn)生氨基酸，以生成新的蛋白質(zhì)。這項(xiàng)研究發(fā)表在《細(xì)胞》雜志上。
The next step is to find out if the barrel can refold into the helix. After that, researchers want to see if proteins similar to RfaH—which are present in all life on Earth—are capable of comparable molecular contortion. Which would mean a lot more bang for our protein buck.
下一階段就是要研究桶錐狀結(jié)構(gòu)是否會(huì)重新變回螺旋狀結(jié)構(gòu)。之后，科學(xué)家們想知道類似于RfaH普遍存在于動(dòng)物體內(nèi)的蛋白質(zhì)是否能扭曲分子。如果能則意味著蛋白質(zhì)能給我們帶來更多的回報(bào)。
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