Metabolism of proteins

Metabolism of proteins, as annotated here, covers the full life cycle of a protein from its synthesis to its posttranslational modification and degradation, at various levels of specificity. Protein synthesis is accomplished through the process of Translation of an mRNA sequence into a polypeptide chain. Protein folding is achieved through the function of molecular chaperones which recognize and associate with proteins in their non-native state and facilitate their folding by stabilizing the conformation of productive folding intermediates. Following translation, many newly formed proteins undergo Post-translational protein modification, essentially irreversible covalent modifications critical for their mature locations and functions, including gamma carboxylation, synthesis of GPI-anchored proteins, asparagine N-linked glycosylation, O-glycosylation, SUMOylation, ubiquitination, deubiquitination, RAB geranylgeranylation, methylation, carboxyterminal post-translational modifications, neddylation, and phosphorylation. Peptide hormones are synthesized as parts of larger precursor proteins whose cleavage in the secretory system (endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, secretory granules) is annotated in Peptide hormone metabolism. After secretion, peptide hormones are modified and degraded by extracellular proteases (Chertow, 1981 PMID:6117463). Protein repair enables the reversal of damage to some amino acid side chains caused by reactive oxygen species. Pulmonary surfactants are lipids and proteins that are secreted by the alveolar cells of the lung that decrease surface tension at the air/liquid interface within the alveoli to maintain the stability of pulmonary tissue. Nuclear regulation, transport, metabolism, reutilization, and degradation of surfactant are described in the Surfactant metabolism pathway. Amyloid fiber formation, the accumulation of mostly extracellular deposits of fibrillar proteins, is associated with tissue damage observed in numerous diseases including late phase heart failure (cardiomyopathy) and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's.

Summary from Reactome (R-HSA-392499), read 2026-09-23.