Max Planck Researchers elucidate important mechanism of
protein folding
Proteins are responsible for nearly every essential process
of life. Their form and structure (or their ”fold”) are of crucial importance
for their functionality. Scientists at the Max Planck Insti-tute of
Biochemistry (MPIB) in Martinsried near Munich have recently discovered a so
far un-known sequence of reactions which is necessary for newly generated
proteins to acquire their correct structure. „In the mechanism we found, the
folding is accomplished in a number of fast intermediate steps rather than in
one single block“, explains Manajit Hayer-Hartl, research group leader at the
MPIB. „Because this mode of action is energetically more favorable, the
pro-teins are folded not only correctly, but also much faster than previously
assumed.