Protein misassembly: Macromolecular crowding and molecular chaperones

Abstract

The generic tendency of proteins to misassemble into nonfunctional, and sometimes cytotoxic, structures poses a universal problem for all types of cell. This problem is exacerbated by the high total concentration of macromolecules found within most in-tracellular compartments but it is solved by the actions of molecular chaperones. This review discusses some of the basic evidence and key concepts relating to this conclusion. © 2007 Landes Bioscience and Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.