Intrinsically Disordered Proteins and the Janus Challenge

• Main Authors: Prakash Kulkarni, Vladimir N. Uversky
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-12-01
• Series: Biomolecules
• Subjects: intrinsically disordered protein; catalytic activity; conformational dynamics; origin of life theory
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/8/4/179

To gain a new insight into the role of proteins in the origin of life on Earth, we present the Janus Challenge: identify an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP), naturally occurring or synthetic, that has catalytic activity. For example, such a catalytic IDP may perform condensation reactions to catalyze a peptide bond or a phosphodiester bond formation utilizing natural/un-natural amino acids or nucleotides, respectively. The IDP may also have autocatalytic, de novo synthesis, or self-replicative activity. Meeting this challenge may not only shed new light and provide an alternative to the RNA world hypothesis, but it may also serve as an impetus for technological advances with important biomedical applications.