A paper from my postdoc was recently published and picked up by some science news outlets. Using Ancestral Protein Resurrection, functional characterization, and biophysical investigations, we found that the steroid receptors acquired their ligand specificity by two large effect mutations ~500 million years ago. Intriguingly, these mutations were chemically conservative, but their functional effect was “amplified” by an existing hydrogen bond network. This work revealed how the non-linear relationship between biophysical properties and function can enable dramatic shifts in phenotype.
Popular coverage: Sciencedaily | Wired.co.uk | UONews