I am new to the field of biochemistry (I am a chemist, actually).
I have long known the process of folding as the process that leads to the minimum energy conformation of a protein.
Now, I am introduced to the chaperones, that I didn't know before.
What I am wondering is: my previous view of folding, as a proces of "self-assembly" (the protein folds without external assistance as it is assembled by the ribosome) is real, or any folding process is assisted by chaperones?
If both processes exist, how frequent is the "assisted" folding, compared to the spontaneous process?