In the course of discussions about Enzyme Function arising from the companion blog, I became aware that DHFR Type 1 is described as a monomer. It is divided into two sub-domains. As this is inconsistent with the physics of catalysis (see the first post of this blog), I explored possible dimeric and tetrameric complexes of this enzyme. The tetramer docks very well. The tetrameric structure is now included in the gallery. Click on the title of this post to study the 3D structure.
I checked the sources of reports that DHFR Type 1 is a monomer and found that the direct evidence came from experiments in the absence of cofactor. I am now planning to repeat the MW determination in the presence of cofactor.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Gallery of 3D Protein Structures
I have begun a gallery of 3D structures of the proteins mentioned on this blog. The structures are rendered by the powerful Jmol applet using the same graphic interface used by the Protein Data Bank. Jmol can display spacefill, backbone or cartoon representations. Jmol can calculate and display surfaces and cavities. It can rotate the structure in any way requested by the user and responds to scripts similar to those of RASMOL and other protein display programs. Click here to enter the gallery.
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