The entropic force generated by intrinsically disordered segments tunes protein function

Protein structures are dynamic and can explore a large conformational landscape(1,2). Only some of these structural substates are important for protein function (i.e. ligand binding, catalysis and regulation)(3–5). How evolution shapes the structural ensemble to optimize a specific function is poorly understood>(3,4). One of the constraints on the evolution of proteins is the stability of the folded ‘native’ state. Despite this, 44% of the human proteome contains intrinsically disordered (ID) peptide segments >30 residues in length(6), the majority of which have no known function(7–9). Here we show that the entropic force produced by an ID carboxy-terminus (ID-tail) shifts the conformational ensemble of human UDP-α-D-glucose-6-dehydrogenase (hUGDH) toward a substate with a high affinity for an allosteric inhibitor. The function of the ID-tail does not depend on its sequence or chemical composition. Instead, the affinity enhancement can be accurately predicted based on the length of the ID segment and is consistent with the entropic force generated by an unstructured peptide attached to the protein surface(10–13). Our data show that the unfolded state of the ID-tail rectifies the dynamics and structure of hUGDH to favor inhibitor binding. Because this entropic rectifier does not have any sequence or structural constraints, it is an easily acquired adaptation. This model implies that evolution selects for disordered segments to tune the energy landscape of proteins, which may explain the persistence of ID in the proteome.