Chapter 10 - Nonenzymatic Posttranslational Protein Modifications: Mechanism and Associated Disease Pathologies

Abstract

Posttranslational modifications (PTMs) of peptides and proteins are common strategies adopted in eukaryotic cells to help to regulate protein function, turn over, or structural allostery. These types of modifications have attracted attention in recent years, since there exists enough data and reports implicating them in pathogenesis and progression of various diseases. PTMs could be enzymatic or nonenzymatic. The nonenzymatic processes involve the spontaneous covalent modification of particular kind of amino acid present in the protein leading functional and structural alteration. Such modifications may include carbamylation, carbonylation, homocysteinylation, nitrosylation, and glycation, etc. The majority of such nonenzymatic protein modifications are confined to various stressful and disease patho-physiologies and, therefore, have broad clinical relevance. In this chapter we give precise descriptions of the mechanisms of the processes, and the related disease complications associated with the modification have also been described in detail. Future research perspectives have also been included.