What is "chaperonin"

n. (context protein English) Any of a class of chaperone proteins

Chaperonins are proteins that provide favourable conditions for the correct folding of other proteins, thus preventing aggregation. Newly made proteins usually must fold from a linear chain of amino acids into a three-dimensional form. Chaperonins belong to a large class of molecules that assist protein folding, called molecular chaperones. The energy to fold proteins is supplied by adenosine triphosphate (ATP).