Scaffold proteins

Abstract

An individual cell has over one billion proteins, of which ten percent form part of signaling pathways and networks, and none of them is exclusive for a single pathway. Thus, pathway components need to be partially preorganized so that signal transduction is not limited by the diffusion kinetics of individual molecules. These molecules need to be organized into complexes that will affect timing, location, and even specificity and magnitude of a single response, such as to growth factors or protection against DNA damage, for example. Thus, there is a cellular need to organize pathways both in time and space, a role that is achieved by scaffold proteins.