V. Carnevale, S. Raugei, C. Micheletti and P. Carloni
Convergent dynamics in the protease enzymatic superfamily
J. Am. Chem. Soc.128, 9766-9772 (2006)
ABSTRACT
Proteases regulate various aspects of the life cycle in all
organisms by cleaving specific peptide bonds. Their action is so
central for biochemical processes that at least 2\% of any known
genome encodes for proteolytic enzymes. Here we show that selected
proteases pairs, despite differences in oligomeric state, catalytic
residues and fold, share a common structural organization of
functionally relevant regions which are further shown to undergo
similar concerted movements. The structural and dynamical similarities
found pervasively across evolutionarily distant clans point to common
mechanisms for peptide hydrolysis.