Abstract
IT is increasingly evident that reversible interactions between macromolecules underlie many important biological functions; the actomyosin system is a classical example. Time-related changes in association between large molecules, which give rise to altered solubility and tensile strength (often associated with increased order), are well known to polymer chemists. It is suggested here that biological systems which rely on controlled intermittent association between specific macromolecules may, by increasingly long periods of association, become fixed in an irreversible or very slowly reversible state, resulting in impaired or lost function.
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GROSS, J. Influence of Time on the Reversible Association between Large Molecules: the Collagen System. Nature 181, 556 (1958). https://doi.org/10.1038/181556a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/181556a0
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