The chaperone code refers to the combinatorial array of [[Post-translational modification|post-translational modifications]] (enzymes add chemical modifications to amino acids that change their properties) —i.e. [[phosphorylation]], [[acetylation]], [[Ubiquitin|ubiquitination]], [[methylation]], etc.—that are added to molecular chaperones to modulate their activity. Molecular chaperones are proteins specialized in folding and unfolding of the other cellular proteins, and the assembly and dismantling of protein complexes. This is critical in the regulation of protein-protein interactions and many cellular functions. Because post-translational modifications are marks that can be added and removed rapidly, they provide an efficient mechanism to explain the plasticity observed in proteome organization during cell growth and development.
The chaperone code concept posits that combinations of post-translational modifications at the surface of chaperones, including phosphorylation, acetylation,<ref name=":0" />, methylation,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Jakobsson|first1=Magnus E.|last2=Moen|first2=Anders|last3=Bousset|first3=Luc|last4=Egge-Jacobsen|first4=Wolfgang|last5=Kernstock|first5=Stefan|last6=Melki|first6=Ronald|last7=Falnes|first7=Pål Ø.|date=2013-09-27|title=Identification and Characterization of a Novel Human Methyltransferase Modulating Hsp70 Protein Function through Lysine Methylation|journal=The Journal of Biological Chemistry|volume=288|issue=39|pages=27752–27763|doi=10.1074/jbc.M113.483248|issn=0021-9258|pmc=3784692|pmid=23921388}}</ref> ubiquitination,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kampinga|first1=Harm H.|last2=Craig|first2=Elizabeth A.|date=August 2010|title=The Hsp70 chaperone machinery: J-proteins as drivers of functional specificity|journal=Nature Reviews. Molecular Cell Biology|volume=11|issue=8|pages=579–592|doi=10.1038/nrm2941|issn=1471-0072|pmc=3003299|pmid=20651708}}</ref> control protein folding/unfolding and protein complex assembly/disassembly by modulating:
1) [[Substrate (chemistry)|chaperone-substrate]] affinity and specificity
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3) chaperone localization
4) chaperone-co-chaperone interaction.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.bbagrm.2013.02.010 |pmid=23459247 |pmc=4492711 |title=Regulation of molecular chaperones through post-translational modifications: Decrypting the chaperone code |journal=Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Gene Regulatory Mechanisms |volume=1829 |issue=5 |pages=443–54 |year=2013 |last1=Cloutier |first1=Philippe |last2=Coulombe |first2=Benoit }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1003210 |pmid=23349634 |pmc=3547847 |title=A Newly Uncovered Group of Distantly Related Lysine Methyltransferases Preferentially Interact with Molecular Chaperones to Regulate Their Activity |journal=PLOS Genetics |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=e1003210 |year=2013 |last1=Cloutier |first1=Philippe |last2=Lavallée-Adam |first2=Mathieu |last3=Faubert |first3=Denis |last4=Blanchette |first4=Mathieu |last5=Coulombe |first5=Benoit }}</ref> .
