Cell complexity: study of another molecule (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, December 10, 2014, 18:42 (3419 days ago) @ David Turell

This is a study of the handling of an unfolded protein by the cell. Loss of folding means loss of function:-http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141210082006.htm-"The unfolded protein's slowdown is not only due to size, however. The researchers did additional experiments to prove that the unfolded protein stuck to other molecules in the cell. A class of molecules in the cell called chaperones have the job of binding to parts of proteins that come unfolded, and the researchers found that the unfolded protein interacted more with chaperones than did the properly folded protein. However, when high numbers of proteins unfold, the cell's systems can get overloaded and the chaperones can't handle them all.-"Looking at something like this can start to give people a handle on why something that seems relatively harmless in vitro sometimes can have such a large effect in the cell," Gelman said. "A change that makes a slightly less effective protein in the test tube can turn into a completely fatal mutation in the cell. First, the protein's role in the cell can no longer be fulfilled. Second, as more and more unfold, they can disrupt the function of the whole cell."-"The researchers think that the unfolded protein is likely to stick to nonchaperone molecules, as well, causing other problems in the cell and disrupting the flow within a cell. They plan to use the specialized microscope to study other proteins and how unfolding affects their diffusion, to see if the properties they observed are universal or if each protein has its own response."-And I keep asking the same question. If Darwin knew this when cellular protoplasm was considered to be just a blob, would he have considered evolution as a totally natural process?