advertisement: compare things at compare-stuff.com!
next up previous contents
Next: Protein structure classification Up: Regulation and control of Previous: Steric effects   Contents

Conformational changes

Regulator binding and protein modification far from the functional region of a protein can also modulate its function, through conformational dynamics. As the regulator binds, structural changes are propagated through the molecule, altering the conformation of functional residues. In these proteins, there exist more than one stable conformation in dynamic equilibrium, and the modulatory signal tips the balance between those states. The cooperativity of oxygen binding to haemoglobin discussed earlier is the result of conformational changes transmitted from one haem group to another through the protein as a whole.



Copyright Bob MacCallum - DISCLAIMER: this was written in 1997 and may contain out-of-date information.