Physics of Protein Folding, Misfolding, and Intrinsic Disorder: A Themed Issue in Honour of Professor Vladimir Uversky on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday
A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomacromolecules: Proteins".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 April 2023) | Viewed by 76348
Special Issue Editors
Interests: cancer systems biology; evolution; non-genetic mechanisms; intrinsically disordered proteins
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: intrinsically disordered proteins; phase separations; charge-induced conformational transitions; structural and functional properties of hydrolytic enzymes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: intrinsically disordered proteins
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: intrinsically disordered proteins; folding copuled to binding; protein-protein interactions; structural transitions; paramyxoviruses
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The discovery of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) has changed our perception of proteins as existing either in their native, folded and, hence, active state or as denatured, unfolded, and non-functional state. We now know that proteins may exist as dynamic conformational ensembles with little or no secondary and tertiary structure and yet be functional. Although apparently posing a challenge to Anfinsen’s postulate, IDPs in fact represent the limits of the structure–function paradigm.
IDPs also pose an additional challenge. Structural disorder is not easily tractable/detectable experimentally using techniques and approaches traditionally used by structuralists, and these techniques need to be enriched and complemented by those typically used by polymer physicists and chemists. Indeed, for the same reason, IDPs, which are prevalent in all three kingdoms of life and comprise almost half the human proteome, are often referred to as constituents of the ‘dark’ matter of biology. Over the past almost thirty years, studies on IDPs have fuelled crosstalk between biochemists, structuralists, and molecular biologists on one hand, and physicists and chemists on the other. These different communities have therefore faced the need to understand each other while speaking different languages.
Prof. Vladimir Uversky, one of the pioneers in the IDP field, realised the necessity of this dialogue and published an eloquent and thought-provoking paper, ‘Natively unfolded proteins: a point where biology waits for physics’ (Protein Sci. 2002). Today, twenty years later, to stimulate reflections on this issue and ponder the role of physical sciences in unravelling the structure–function paradigm, Biomolecules will be publishing this Special Issue on the occasion of Prof. Uversky’s 60th birthday celebrating his many contributions to the IDP field. This Special Issue aims to present the state of the art and invites contributions from those researchers who have known Prof. Vladimir Uversky personally.
Prof. Dr. Prakash Kulkarni
Dr. Stefania Brocca
Prof. Dr. Keith Dunker
Dr. Sonia Longhi
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomolecules is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs)
- intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs)
- intrinsic disorder prediction
- intrinsic disorder characterization & methodological developments
- molecular recognition & regulation mediated by structural disorder
- conformational ensembles
- energy landscape of IDPs
- modeling of IDPs
- conformational and binding properties of IDPs
- folding upon binding
- liquid-liquid phase separation
- fibrillation
- IDPs in nanotechnoogy and biotechnology
- intrinsic disorder in disease and evolution
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.