Sandbox 37: Difference between revisions

A distribution of polar vs nonpolar residues can be viewed <scene name='Sandbox_37/Polarblue_nonpolarred/1'>here</scene>. The residues on this backbone stucture of lysozyme are labelled blue if they are polar and red if they are nonpolar. By viewing this structure one is capable of seeing the overall dispersion of polar vs. nonpolar residues. Polar residues, which are hydrophillic, are generally found on the outside of a molecule so that they can interact with surrounding water molecules. This is much more apparent when viewing <scene name='Sandbox_37/Polarblue_nonpolarred2/1'>this</scene> structural format (blue again represents polar while red represents nonpolar residues. Lysozyme is slightly unique in its polar vs nonpolar residues in that, as is apparent in the structure just mentioned, there are still a large number of nonpolar residues towards the outside surface of the molecule. This is due to the fact that lysozyme is a relatively "open" molecule meaning that it is not tightly bound and thus does not hide all of its nonpolar residues with an outward polar residue shell.