Dynamic Personalities Of Proteins Reveal Key Traits: New Window Opens On Structure And Function Of Enzymes

Dynamic Personalities Of Proteins Reveal Key Traits: New Window Opens On Structure And Function Of Enzymes: "A Brandeis University study published in Nature this week advances fundamental understanding of the dynamic personalities of proteins and proposes that these enzymes are much more mobile, or plastic, than previously thought. The research, based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments, may shed new light on how to improve rational drug design through docking to dynamic targets.

For the first time ever, the study linked both the low-energy as well as the much rarer high-energy state of enzymes to their function, said lead author Brandeis biophysicist Dorothee Kern.

The research involved NMR studies of the enzyme cyclophilin A, a highly conserved protein found in all organisms from yeast to the human body, and which is involved in HIV replication in humans. "