Protein tentacles

Virus structures were among the earliest illustrations of how regulated protein assembly can proceed by folding of polypeptide-chain segments into complementary sites on partner proteins. I draw on Caspar's image of protein “tentacles” and his metaphor of SV40 pentamers as five-legged, aquatic organisms (“pentopuses”) to suggest a helpful vocabulary. “Tentacular interactions” among component subunits organize most subcellular molecular machines. Their selective advantages include facile regulation of both assembly and disassembly by modifying enzymes and by folding chaperones.