Relative predicted protein levels of functionally... : Nucleic Acids Research (original) (raw)

Relative predicted protein levels of functionally associated proteins are conserved across organisms

Gila Lithwick
Hanah Margalit

Nucleic Acids Research

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1051

1057

2005

We show that the predicted protein levels of functionally related proteins change in a coordinated fashion over many unicellular organisms. For each protein, we created a profile containing a protein abundance measure in each of a set of organisms. We show that for functionally related proteins these profiles tend to be correlated. Using the Codon Adaptation Index as a predictor of protein abundance in 48 unicellular organisms, we demonstrated this phenomenon for two types of functional relations: for proteins that physically interact and for proteins involved in consecutive steps within a metabolic pathway. Our results suggest that the protein abundance levels of functionally related proteins co-evolve.