The phrase "alternatively function as" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when describing a different role or purpose that something can serve in addition to its primary function.
Example: "The software can alternatively function as a data analysis tool, providing insights into user behavior."
Alternatives: "serve as an alternative" or "act as a substitute".
The scaffold might alternatively function solely as a drug delivery system to the surrounding tissue or serve a dual role with cells contained within the scaffold.
Because mutant p53 proteins are quite abundant in these tumour cells, it is reasonable to speculate that they may physically interact with many other proteins, or alternatively may function as independent transcription factors to perform multiple functions.
Small noncoding RNAs have been shown to affect mRNA stability and translational efficiency at post-transcriptional levels; or alternatively, to function as epigenetic factors in controlling gene expression at transcriptional levels (Saxe and Lin, 2011).
Soluble IL-2R has been shown to be capable of efficiently binding IL-2; it could therefore act by binding to free IL-2, either to inhibit its interaction with cell surface receptors or alternatively to function as a transport protein.
It would be of interest to investigate if this RNase is delivered by the flagellar system or alternatively functions to regulate flagellar gene expression as a RNA-processing enzyme.
Alternatively, Pit may function as a cofactor or an activator of a GEF for OsRac1; in this context, we recently identified a PRONE-type Rac GEF by yeast two-hybrid screening and found that it induces OsRac1 activation in vitro and in vivo (A. Akamatsu et al., unpublished data).
Alternatively, it could function as an intermediate in active oxidative demethylation (Figure 1) [14].
Alternatively, Metnase may function as a co-factor or chaperone to increase Topo IIα reaction kinetics.
Alternatively, Tollip could function as a carrier for nuclear localization of sumoylated proteins, as suggested by the interaction with RanGAP-1.
Thus, similarly to rad18, lonrf1s might potentially be involved in DNA repair, or alternatively they might function as a ubiquitin ligase or protease.
