The Structural and Functional Organization of Intramolecular Chaperones: The N-Terminal Propeptides Which Mediate Protein Folding1

A large number of prokaryotic as well as eukaryotic proteins are produced with amino terminal propeptides. These amino-terminal extensions are essential for mediating proper folding of their corresponding proteins and are also termed as intramolecular chaperones. Though these propeptides are highly specific and unique in their function, several common features have been identified and indicate that the overall mechanism by which they function may be very similar.