Tardigrades Use Intrinsically Disordered Proteins to Survive Desiccation.
Mol Cell
; 65(6): 975-984.e5, 2017 Mar 16.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28306513
ABSTRACT
Tardigrades are microscopic animals that survive a remarkable array of stresses, including desiccation. How tardigrades survive desiccation has remained a mystery for more than 250 years. Trehalose, a disaccharide essential for several organisms to survive drying, is detected at low levels or not at all in some tardigrade species, indicating that tardigrades possess potentially novel mechanisms for surviving desiccation. Here we show that tardigrade-specific intrinsically disordered proteins (TDPs) are essential for desiccation tolerance. TDP genes are constitutively expressed at high levels or induced during desiccation in multiple tardigrade species. TDPs are required for tardigrade desiccation tolerance, and these genes are sufficient to increase desiccation tolerance when expressed in heterologous systems. TDPs form non-crystalline amorphous solids (vitrify) upon desiccation, and this vitrified state mirrors their protective capabilities. Our study identifies TDPs as functional mediators of tardigrade desiccation tolerance, expanding our knowledge of the roles and diversity of disordered proteins involved in stress tolerance.
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Texto completo:
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Desidratação
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Enzimas
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Tardígrados
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Proteínas Intrinsicamente Desordenadas
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Aclimatação
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article