{
  "id": 19178686,
  "title": "Inter-domain flexibility in F-Box proteins revealed by integrative modeling",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/09/inter-domain-flexibility-in-f-box-proteins-revealed-by-integrative",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-11-09T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.07.764542v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "F-box proteins, essential components of the SCF ubiquitin ligase complex, are responsible for selectively recruiting substrates for targeted protein degradation. These proteins possess a common architecture consisting of an anchor domain connected to a substrate-binding domain. Although the structural characteristics of F-box proteins have been extensively studied, their potential conformational dynamics have not been thoroughly explored.\n\nTo investigate this, researchers utilized an integrative modeling approach that integrated cryo-EM structures, cross-linking mass spectrometry, and deep learning-based conformational ensemble prediction. This approach enabled the profiling of the accessible conformations of various F-box proteins. The analyses conducted revealed a significant inter-domain flexibility in FBXL2 and FBXL17, which allows these proteins to sample a wide range of conformations within the SCF and CSN-SCF complexes.\n\nIn contrast, other F-box proteins, such as FBXL1 and FBXO22, exhibit intrinsic flexibility but are restricted to a narrower conformational landscape. These findings highlight the importance of inter-domain plasticity as a tunable architectural feature of F-box proteins. This flexibility may play a crucial role in shaping their functional versatility within SCF complexes.",
  "summary": "F-box proteins, the substrate-recognition modules of the SCF (Skp1-Cul1-F-box) ubiquitin ligase complex, play a central role in targeted protein degradation by enabling the selective recruitment of diverse substrates. F-box proteins share a common architecture with a conserved anchor domain linked to the substrate-binding domain. Despite extensive structural characterization of F-box proteins,…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}