Structural Systems Biology

The cellular interior is not a mere Brownian soup of molecules; it is rather an exquisitely structured entity organized into hierarchical levels. Knowing how proteins assemble into different layers of organization, is thus fundamental to understanding the functioning of the cell. We recently demonstrated that proteins are a few mutations, sometimes even one mutation away, to form infinite polymers –aka supramolecular assemblies– (Garcia-Seisdedos, et al. Nature 2017, Empereur-Mot, Garcia-Seisdedos, et al Sci Data 2019, Garcia-Seisdedos, et al PNAS 2022). They are amorphous or ordered structures resulting from the self-assembly of folded proteins. In recent years a growing number of studies have identified proteins that naturally (often in a condition-dependent manner, e.g. membrane-less organelles), or as a result of mutation, form supramolecular assemblies, suggesting important implications in cellular adaptation and disease.