New Insights Into Hidden World Of Protein Folding

Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 19:21 in Biology & Nature

The proteins upon which life depends share an attribute with paper airplanes: Unless folded properly, they just won't fly. Proteins, long and linear when first made, must fold into specific configurations before they can properly do their job in a cell. How they are folded is a mystery, but researchers have begun prying the lid off a type of molecule called a chaperonin, which folds some of the most essential proteins for life. The goal is to control protein folding, which has therapy implications for many diseases caused by misfolding.

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