Seminar title: Protein N-terminal Acetylation – From Machinery to Disease
Most human proteins are N-terminally acetylated. In recent years, we have identified and defined the responsible machinery in human cells, the N-terminal acetyltransferases (NATs). These may act as ribosome-associated co-translational modifiers of large substrate groups, or post-translationally on specific protein substrates. In the latter group, the Golgi-associated NAA60 acts on specific membrane proteins while the cytosolic NAA80 acetylates the N-termini of actins. At the protein level, the impact of N-terminal acetylation is very diverse and ranges from subcellular targeting to protein degradation or stabilization. The physiological importance is stressed by the pathologies caused by dysfunctional NAT enzymes. N-terminal acetylation may impact both cancer and neurodegenerative disease.