Antioxidants & Redox Signaling

Cyclic cystine knot proteins are small but topologically complex molecules that occur naturally in plants and have a wide range of bioactivities that make them interesting from a pharmaceutical perspective. Their remarkable stability is dependent on the correct formation of a knotted arrangement of disulfide bonds. This review reports on studies that have deciphered the pathways to the “tying of the knot.” These studies have involved a range of biophysical techniques and suggest that the major intermediate species presented on these pathways are two disulfide native species, which are not necessarily the precursors of the native protein. Structural elucidations of one analogue and one such intermediate have been reported, and they both show highly native-like conformation and native disulfide bond connectivity. Cyclic cystine knot formation has also been shown to be assisted by protein disulfide isomerase. The points summarized in this review will be important to consider in the design of novel pharmaceutically interesting biomolecules based on the cyclic cystine knot motif, which has shown potential as a molecular scaffold because of its exceptional stability.