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Open Access
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Letter |
Mechanism of NMDA receptor channel block by MK-801 and memantine
A high-resolution X-ray structure and molecular dynamics simulations of the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor in complexes with channel-blocking ligands reveals the molecular basis of the ligand binding and channel block.
- Xianqiang Song
- , Morten Ø. Jensen
- & Eric Gouaux
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Letter |
Proteins evolve on the edge of supramolecular self-assembly
Introducing a single ‘sticky’ (hydrophobic) amino acid by point mutation into symmetric protein complexes frequently triggers their association into higher-order assemblies, without affecting their native fold and structure.
- Hector Garcia-Seisdedos
- , Charly Empereur-Mot
- & Emmanuel D. Levy
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Letter |
Identifying specificity groups in the T cell receptor repertoire
The authors devise an algorithm that can cluster T cell receptor (TCR) sequences sharing the same specificity, predict the HLA restriction of these TCR clusters on the basis of subjects’ genotypes and help to identify specific peptide major histocompatibility complex ligands.
- Jacob Glanville
- , Huang Huang
- & Mark M. Davis
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Letter |
Sequence space and the ongoing expansion of the protein universe
The need to maintain the structural and functional integrity of an evolving protein limits the range of acceptable amino-acid substitutions — but to what extent does this constrain how far homologous protein sequences can diverge? Here, sequence divergence data are used to explore the limits of protein evolution, and to conclude that ancient proteins are continuing to diverge from one another, indicating that the protein sequence universe is slowly expanding.
- Inna S. Povolotskaya
- & Fyodor A. Kondrashov
Clustering predicted structures at the scale of the known protein universe