Protein evolution via bi-stability

What is it about?

How do new protein structures evolve from existing ones? We address this question by using a simplified evolutionary model based on biophysical principles. We use this model to emphasize the importance of initially infrequently visited structure states of proteins that through natural selection could be stabilized and eventually lead to bi-stable proteins that open up new protein structures as a matter of single point mutations. Bi-stability landscapes are described that allow gradual evolution.

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Why is it important?

Molecular evolution is often concerned with the mapping from sequence to structure or from genotype to phenotype. Several experiments have shown that a simple sequence-to-structure-to-function mapping does not hold in many cases and proteins can be multi-functional and structurally dynamic. We combine evolutionary and biophysical models to describe how such multi-functional traits enhance the possibility for adaptation.