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Because life has more than 2D, Proteopedia helps to understand relationships between structure and function. Proteopedia is a free, collaborative 3D-encyclopedia of proteins & other molecules. ISSN 2310-6301
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Coronavirus Spike Protein Priming by Eric Martz Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (responsible for COVID-19) has a spike protein on its surface, which enables it to infect host cells. Initially, proteases in the lungs clip the homo-trimeric spike protein at a unique sequence. This primes it, causing it to extend its receptor binding surface (shown in the above animation), optimizing binding to the host cell's ACE2 receptor (not shown). Next, spike protein initiates fusion of the virus and host cell membranes (not shown), enabling the virus RNA to enter the cell and initiate production of new virions. Knowledge of spike protein's molecular structure and function is crucial to developing effective therapies and vaccines. >>> Visit this page >>>	Opening a Gate to Human Health by Alice Clark (PDBe) In the 1970s, an exciting discovery of a family of medicines was made by the Japanese scientist Satoshi Ōmura. One of these molecules, ivermectin, is shown in this artwork bound in the ligand binding pocket of the Farnesoid X receptor, a protein which helps regulate cholesterol in humans. This structure showed that ivermectin induced transcriptional activity of FXR and could be used to regulate metabolism. >>> Visit this page >>>	Structural flexibility of the periplasmic protein, FlgA, regulates flagellar P-ring assembly in Salmonella enterica. H Matsunami, YH Yoon, VA Meshcheryakov, K Namba, FA Samatey. Scientific Reports 2016 doi: 10.1038/srep27399 A periplasmic flagellar chaperone protein, FlgA, is required for P-ring assembly in bacterial flagella of taxa such as Salmonella enterica or Escherichia coli. Here we present the open and closed crystal structures of FlgA from Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, grown under different crystallization conditions. An intramolecular disulfide cross-linked form of FlgA caused a dominant negative effect on motility of the wild-type strain. >>> Visit this I3DC complement >>>	Virus Capsid Geometry The Capsid of a virus is its outer shell or "skin". Viruses have evolved intricate and elegant ways to assemble capsid protein chains into complete, usually spherical capsids, often with icosahedral symmetry. Pictured is an extremely simplified model of a capsid, where a single enlarged atom represents each of the 360 protein chains in the capsid of the Simian Virus 40 (SV40), a member of a group of cancer-causing viruses that has been extensively researched for decades. >>> See more animations and explanation >>>
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Jaime Prilusky, Joel L. Sussman, Angel Herraez