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Post 56: An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet ✨

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Surely, that’s what you thought about your ex. But the relationship that was truly meant to happen is that of life with phosphorus; you find it in DNA, in cell membranes, and in phospho-ligands like ATP. For a cell to have energy, it uses proteins that break down phospho-ligands and release phosphorus in the form of phosphate (i.e., accompanied by oxygen). But how many types of proteins do that?

A protein belongs to a specific “type” based on how its 3D structure folds. Nobody knows how many folding forms exist, but it is estimated that there are between 1,000 and 10,000. For example, the ECOD system suggests that there are 2,344 foldings. Analyzing this data, it was found that evolution independently discovered a protein capable of working with phosphate 275 times.

Each of those 275 foldings contains several families of proteins, all with the same 3D shape. However, not all families work with phosphate, as some acquired that ability “recently,” while for others, it was their foundational/original function. Interestingly, this latter group of foldings has a greater number of families, suggesting that binding to phosphate is a driving force for diversification in proteins. Furthermore, those foldings that have many families and most of them work with phosphate fall within the oldest folding groups that exist.

This group of ancestral foldings shares certain characteristics, but the most notable is that most of them bind phosphates in a turn region flanked by an alpha helix and a beta sheet. It is believed that this structure could be a “fossil” of those primordial peptides present at the origin of life, or that the environmental conditions of that time limited how phosphate binding could occur.

However it may be, it’s a beautiful example of molecular evolution.

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