Myristoylation
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Myristoylation is a lipidation modification where a myristoyl group, derived from myristic acid, is covalently attached by an amide bond to the alpha-amino group of an N-terminal glycine residue.[1] Myristic acid is a 14-carbon saturated fatty acid (14:0) with the systematic name of n-tetradecanoic acid. This modification can be added either co-translationally or post-translationally. N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) catalyzes the myristic acid addition reaction in the cytoplasm of cells.[2] This lipidation event is the most common type of fatty acylation [3] and is present in many organisms, including animals, plants, fungi, protozoans [4] and viruses. Myristoylation allows for weak protein–protein and protein–lipid interactions[5] and plays an essential role in membrane targeting, protein–protein interactions and functions widely in a variety of signal transduction pathways.