Order/Disorder Transitions Upon Protein Binding: A Unifying Perspective

When two proteins bind to each other, this process is often accompanied by a change in their structural states (from disordered to ordered or vice versa). As it turns out, there are 10 distinct possibilities for such binding-related order/disorder transitions. Out of this number, seven scenarios have been experimentally observed, while another three remain hitherto unreported. As an example, we discuss the so-called mutual synergistic folding, whereby two disordered proteins come together to form a fully structured complex. Our bioinformatics analysis of the Protein Databank found potential new examples of this remarkable binding mechanism.