[excerpt] We got a better understanding of biopolymer structural dynamics, which have a large impact in biology and biosecurity,” Laurence said.
In the study of proteins, researchers have not quite figured out what causes a protein to go from a folded to unfolded state.
But Laurence said the recent study sheds some light on the mystery.
The structure in the energy landscape is what encourages it to fold or not to fold,” he said. “You want to see what protein is doing in an unfolded state and why it folds. Then you can understand why the folding sometimes goes wrong.”
Laurence said protein folding gone awry can provide some keys to as to why certain people are prone to Alzheimer’s or other neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, understanding how and why protein folds can help scientists design proteins to perform specific tasks.
In order to do that, we have to know how to build them first,” he said. “Discovering these risk factor genes is essential for understanding the causes of Alzheimer’s disease and pinpointing targets for drug development and other prevention or treatment strategies.”
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