Synonymous Mutations and Ribosome Stalling Can Lead to Altered Folding Pathways and Distinct Minima

Abstract

How can we understand a case where a given amino acid sequence folds into structurally and functionally distinct molecules? Synonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1 or ABCB1) gene involving frequent to rare codon substitutions lead to identical protein sequences. Remarkably these alternative sequences give a protein product with similar but different structures and functions. Here we propose that long-enough ribosomal pause time-scales may lead to alternate folding pathways and distinct minima on the folding free energy surface. While the conformational and functional differences between the native and alternate states may be minor, the MDR1 case illustrates that the barriers may nevertheless constitute sufficiently high hurdles in physiological time-scales, leading to kinetically trapped states with altered structures and functions. Different folding pathways leading to conformationally-similar trapped states may be due to swapping of (fairly symmetric) segments. Domain swapping is more likely in the no-pause case where the chain elongates and folds simulaneously; on the other hand, sufficiently long pause times between such segments may be expected to lessen the chances of swapping events. Here, we review the literature in this light.