Myristoylation
Encyclopedia
Protein
Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...
modification found in animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s, plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s, fungi, protozoans and virus
Virus
A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
es. In this protein modification, a myristoyl group (derived from myristic acid
Myristic acid
Myristic acid, also called tetradecanoic acid, is a common saturated fatty acid with the molecular formula CH312COOH. A myristate is a salt or ester of myristic acid....
) is covalently attached via an amide bond to the alpha-amino group of an N-terminal amino acid of a nascent polypeptide. It is more common on glycine
Glycine
Glycine is an organic compound with the formula NH2CH2COOH. Having a hydrogen substituent as its 'side chain', glycine is the smallest of the 20 amino acids commonly found in proteins. Its codons are GGU, GGC, GGA, GGG cf. the genetic code.Glycine is a colourless, sweet-tasting crystalline solid...
residues but also occurs on other amino acids. The modification is catalyzed by the enzyme N-myristoyltransferase (NMT)
N-myristoyltransferase 1
Glycylpeptide N-tetradecanoyltransferase 1 also known as myristoyl-CoA:protein N-myristoyltransferase 1 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the NMT1 gene....
, and occurs most commonly on glycine residues exposed during co-translational N-terminal methionine removal. Myristoylation also occurs post-translationally, for example when previously internal glycine residues become exposed by caspase cleavage during apoptosis.
Function
Myristoylation plays a vital role in membrane targeting and signal transductionSignal transduction
Signal transduction occurs when an extracellular signaling molecule activates a cell surface receptor. In turn, this receptor alters intracellular molecules creating a response...
in plant responses to environmental stress.