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News Release 05-026
A Nanoscale Mechanism for Protein Control
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The structure of UCLA's "spring-loaded" control mechanism: a short piece of DNA (orange) is attached at each end to the protein molecule (green)--in this case, Maltose Binding Protein. By chemically altering the stiffness of the DNA strand, researchers can control the mechanical stress it exerts on the protein, and can thus shift the protein between active and inactive states at will.
Credit: Brian Choi, UCLA Physics
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