What characterizes the process of lipidation?

Lipidation is characterized by the addition of lipid groups to proteins, which significantly impacts their interactions and functions within the cell. This post-translational modification facilitates the association of proteins with cell membranes, allowing them to embed themselves in lipid bilayers or associate with membrane domains. The lipid groups can serve as hydrophobic anchors, which helps in positioning the protein correctly within the membrane, thus playing a critical role in a variety of cellular processes, including signaling and membrane trafficking.

The other processes mentioned—such as adding carbohydrates to proteins, phosphorylation of proteins, and targeting proteins for degradation—are related to protein modifications but do not specifically focus on the lipidation mechanism or its role in membrane association.