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Statistical Mechanics, Protein Structure, and Protein Substrate Interactions pp 115–134Cite as

Theoretical Perspectives on In Vitro and In Vivo Protein Folding

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Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((NSSB,volume 325))

Abstract

It is now well established that in order to execute specific biological functions proteins must adopt well defined three dimensional structures.1,2 The diverse biological demands placed on proteins are probably the reason why one observes seemingly large classes of protein structures. However, the process by which proteins acquire their three dimensional structure remains an unsolved problem in biochemistry and molecular biology. The text book description of the folding of proteins follows the classic work of Anfinsen on the spontaneous in vitro refolding of ribonuclease.3 This work suggests that the protein folding is a self-assembly process which means that all the information needed for folding is contained in the various solvent induced interactions between the amino acids comprising a protein molecule. The self-assembly process does not require additional input of energy or other constraints. Since many proteins have been made to fold in vitro it follows that the major principles of protein folding can be formulated without the need to involve extra cellular components. It therefore follows that the protein folding problem reduces to a statistical mechanical description of finite sized branched heteropolymers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Physical Science and Technology and Department of Chemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742, USA

    D. Thirumalai

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  1. D. Thirumalai
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA

    Sebastian Doniach

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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Thirumalai, D. (1994). Theoretical Perspectives on In Vitro and In Vivo Protein Folding. In: Doniach, S. (eds) Statistical Mechanics, Protein Structure, and Protein Substrate Interactions. NATO ASI Series, vol 325. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1349-4_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1349-4_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-1351-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-1349-4

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