Intrinsically Unstructured Proteins and Their Functions

Many gene sequences in eukaryotic genomes encode entire proteins or large segments of proteins that lack a well-structured three-dimensional fold. Disordered regions can be highly conserved between species in both composition and sequence and, contrary to the traditional view that protein function equates with a stable three-dimensional structure, disordered regions are often functional, in ways that we are only beginning to discover. Many disordered segments fold on binding to their biological targets ( coupled folding and binding), whereas others constitute flexible linkers that have a role in the assembly of macromolecular arrays.