Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Biol Chem. Feb 21, 2019; 10(2): 28-43
Published online Feb 21, 2019. doi: 10.4331/wjbc.v10.i2.28
Fasciculation and elongation zeta proteins 1 and 2: From structural flexibility to functional diversity
Mariana Bertini Teixeira, Marcos Rodrigo Alborghetti, Jörg Kobarg
Mariana Bertini Teixeira, Jörg Kobarg, Institute of Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Tissue Biology, University of Campinas, Campinas 13083-862, Brazil
Marcos Rodrigo Alborghetti, Department of Cell Biology, University of Brasilia, Brasilia 70919-970, Brazil
Jörg Kobarg, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Campinas, Campinas 13083-862, Brazil
Author contributions: Teixeira MB, Alborghetti MR and Kobarg J performed the literature search, analyses and interpretation of the data; elaborated the figures; conceived the overall idea of the review, elaborated the final version of the text together; all the authors read, revised and approved the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict-of-interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jörg Kobarg, PhD, Full Professor, Molecular Biologist, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Campinas, Rua Monteiro Lobato 255, Bloco F, Sala 03, Campinas 13083-862, Brazil. jorgkoba@unicamp.br
Telephone: +55-19-35211443
Received: November 29, 2018
Peer-review started: November 29, 2018
First decision: December 24, 2018
Revised: January 2, 2019
Accepted: January 28, 2019
Article in press: January 28, 2019
Published online: February 21, 2019
Core Tip

Core tip: Fasciculation and elongation zeta/zygin (FEZ) proteins are intrinsically disordered and hub proteins involved in many cellular functions, acting as a bivalent adaptor of kinesin-based movement. These proteins are associated to several processes like neuronal development, neurological disorders, viral infection and autophagy. However, novel nuclear functions are being described, shedding more light to their role. This review intends to reunite aspects of evolution, structure, interaction partners and function of FEZ proteins and correlate them to physiological and pathological processes.