title: Flexibility and rigidity in protein crystals.
abstract: There is an increasing body of crystallographic evidence for disorder in parts of the main polypeptide chain of certain proteins. The zymogens of pancreatic serine proteinases and tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase are used as examples. It is suggested that reactivity and specificity are favoured by an appropriate rigid conformation, and that disorder may often be involved in some kind of control function.
mesh_terms: D000604:Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases; D003461:Crystallography; D010450:Endopeptidases; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010179:Pancreas / Q000201:enzymology; D011487:Protein Conformation; D014448:Tyrosine-tRNA Ligase
chemical_list: D010450:Endopeptidases; D000604:Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases; D014448:Tyrosine-tRNA Ligase