Cystic fibrosis? A folding problem

A research team comprising the Institute of Sciences of Food Production Unit of Lecce (Ispa-Cnr) and the Institute of Crystallography of Bari of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche have determined for the first time the complete crystal structure of one of the main ERQC components, the checkpoint enzyme UDP-Glucose glycoprotein glucosyltranseferase (aka UGGT). The study suggests that UGGT's ability to detect misfold in substrate glycoproteins of many different sizes and folds depends on its inter-domain conformational flexibility. The publication, in collaboration with Nicole Zitzmann e Pietro Roversi at the Oxford Glycobiology Institute at the Department of Biochemistry, of the University of Oxford (UK) has just appeared in the journal PNAS.