Variation on an Src-like theme

Cell. 2003 Mar 21;112(6):737-40. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(03)00196-x.

Abstract

The modularity of protein architecture and the diversity of protein domains hint at a vast combinatorial richness. But evolution appears to have been relatively conservative about selecting new combinations. When a particular grouping of domains within a polypeptide chain can perform a concerted function, that combination tends to reappear in multiple genomic contexts. In other words, once a molecular solution to a functional problem has emerged, it is reused rather than reinvented.

Publication types

  • Comment
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Evolution, Molecular
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Genes, src
  • Genetic Variation
  • Humans
  • Models, Molecular
  • Protein Structure, Secondary
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / chemistry*
  • Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / metabolism
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-abl / chemistry
  • src Homology Domains* / genetics

Substances

  • Protein-Tyrosine Kinases
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-abl