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What Are Scaffolds in Proteins?

Scaffold proteins are synthetic proteins that control the ways that proteins signal messages at the cellular levels and allow those proteins to come together and interact. They connect the signaling elements of different proteins, confine those elements to such areas as the cell membrane, ensure that the correct protein's message is "heard" by other proteins and coordinate feedback.

  1. Connecting Proteins for Communications

    • Scaffold proteins take signaling components from different proteins and combine them into complexes. Part of this function includes moving like components closer to one another to make communication more efficient. Some proteins need messages from several different other proteins to activate, and the scaffold proteins can channel those messages together into one signal.

    Keeping the Switches On

    • Some enzymes can inactivate communication processes that need to stay active. Scaffolds can protect those processes by blocking the enzyme activity (phosphatases are one culprit) and keeping the signaling going from protein to protein.

    Feedback Management

    • Positive and negative feedback from one protein can inhibit important activity or activate undesirable activity in other proteins. Scaffolds can connect all three kinases to hone the message coming from the protein down to one channel, drowning out extraneous feedback.

    Concentrate Signal Strength

    • Scaffolds can also move like signals together, adding to their strength. Anchor proteins of the AKAP type, for example, move protein kinase (PKA) to specific cellular sites to keep PKA levels regulated at an optimal level for operation on the cellular and organic levels.

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