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In a finding that offers fresh insights into the early evolution of life on Earth, two RIKEN biologists have conducted lab experiments that have revealed a previously unknown protein fold, which is completely absent in modern proteins.

The proteins that power essential biological processes such as gene expression and protein production all contain different types of folds known as β-barrel folds. However, the evolutionary pathways between these structures had been unclear.

Now, the discovery in simulations of what is likely a long-lost folding topology—dubbed the double-zeta β-barrel (DZBB)—helps to clarify how complex biomolecular machines might have arisen from simpler precursors.

"The discovery of this missing-link protein fold helps us understand the evolutionary relationship between many different proteins in a much simpler way than we had expected," explains Shunsuke Tagami of the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR).

The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.

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