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Nature 456, 337-338 (20 November 2008) | doi:10.1038/456337a; Published online 19 November 2008
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Assistant or Associate Professor, Section of Anatomic Pathology
- The Medical College of Georgia
- Augusta, Georgia, USA
Professor / Associate Professor (Pharmaceutics / Pharmaceutical Analysis&quality Control)
- Alliance Institute of Advanced Pharmacy and Health Sciences
- Hyderabad 500038 India
Structural biology: Enzyme knocked for a loop
Ronald L. Mellgren1
Abstract
Protein-digesting enzymes are kept on a tight leash to stop them from wantonly attacking targets. Two crystal structures show how an inhibitory protein domain gags one such enzyme without being chewed up itself.
All organisms have enzymes, known as proteinases, that break down other proteins, and have vital roles in such disparate processes as food digestion and blood clotting. These enzymes can't be allowed to run amok — if a protein has been mistakenly broken down, then a replacement has to be painstakingly re-synthesized from scratch.
- Ronald L. Mellgren is in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Toledo College of Medicine, Toledo, Ohio 43614-2598, USA.
Email: ronald.mellgren@utoledo.edu
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