Tying up the Loose Ends: A Mathematically Knotted Protein.

ABSTRACT: Knots have attracted scientists in mathematics, physics, biology, and engineering. Long flexible thin strings easily knot and tangle as experienced in our daily life. Similarly, long polymer chains inevitably tend to get trapped into knots. Little is known about their formation or function in proteins despite >1,000 knotted proteins identified in nature. However, these protein knots are not mathematical knots with their backbone polypeptide chains because of their open termini, and the presence of a "knot" depends on the algorithm used to create path closure. Furthermore, it is generally not possible to control the topology of the unfolded states of proteins, therefore making it challenging to characterize functional and physicochemical properties of knotting in any polymer. Covalently lin

SUBMITTER: Hsu SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8182377 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature