»Moonlight« proteins (MPs) are a subclass of multifunctional proteins in which a single polypeptide chain performs multiple (often non-related) biochemical or biophysical functions. Their multifunctionality is not a result of gene fusion, DNA rearrangements, RNA splicing or different post-translational modifications of the same protein. Examples of MPs exist in all kingdoms of life as well as in viruses. There are many unanwsered questions about MPS, for example, how they perform multiple different functions, switch between them or perform them at the same time, how and when are they directed to different locations inside and outside of the cell and how are they secreted. Because most of them are highly conserved proteins involved in basic cell processes in different organisms and also in adhesion and invasion in pathogenic bacteria, understanding of their regulation and functioning will be crucial for the understanding of normal and pathophysiological processes in which they are involved and that lead to different diseases in human. Therefore they have a big potential for the development of novel therapeutics and antibiotics, but also for the design of proteins with new functions, synthesis of new materials and the developement of efficient bioinformatic tools for protein multifunctionality prediction.
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