Intrinsically Disordered Proteins in the Norm and Pathology: In-Silico Perspective

Dear Colleagues,

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and hybrid proteins that have ordered domains and intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) are proteins and regions that do not have stable tertiary and/or secondary structures under physiological conditions. They are very common in nature and functionally complement ordered proteins. Despite being devoid of unique structures, IDPs/IDPRs are important players in regulation, signaling, and control, they engage in binding to multiple partners, and participate in one-to-many and many-to-one signaling. Being crucial controllers of numerous biological processes, IDPs/IDPRs are tightly controlled and precisely tuned themselves by multiple means, including alternative splicing and posttranslational modifications. There are numerous examples showing that when de-regulated and uncontrolled, various IDPs/IDPRs are involved in the development of various pathological conditions, such as amyloidoses, cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, genetic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, psychiatric diseases, and many other maladies. IDPs/IDPRs are nowadays being considered as new and very promising drug targets.

Computational methods for prediction and analysis of disorder from protein sequences, for performing analysis of protein dynamics, as well as for finding correlation between intrinsic disorder and various human diseases, have emerged as viable approaches greatly enhancing research capabilities of modern protein scientists. These methods find numerous important applications in functional and structural proteomics. We invite you to contribute articles that describe computational methods for predicting IDPs/IDPRs, their functions and pathological associations, and the applications of computational methods to characterize the abundance, functional roles, conformational dynamics, and other characteristic features of intrinsically disordered proteins. Articles that include an experimental component are also encouraged.

Dr. Lukasz Kurgan
Dr. Vladimir N. Uversky
Guest Editors

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