title: WWWWhy does nature stutter? A survey of strands of repeated amino acids.
abstract: Human stuttering is a simple example of the repetition of sounds or symbols, sometimes associated with single letters, and may be used to illustrate the amazing repetition of amino acids (symbolized by a letter, e.g. W) in proteins. A survey of available databases with highly improbable strings of single amino acids is tabulated. This paper concludes with a challenge to the crystallographic community to probe the structural origins of the structure-function relationship in this neglected area. When nature stutters, we should pay attention.
authors.affiliation: Biographics Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2128, USA. e-meyer@tamu.edu
authors.forename: E F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Tollett
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids; D000818:Animals; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D020449:Repetitive Sequences, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D011506:Proteins