title: The Diverse Structures and Functions of Surfactant Proteins.
abstract: Surface tension at liquid-air interfaces is a major barrier that needs to be surmounted by a wide range of organisms; surfactant and interfacially active proteins have evolved for this purpose. Although these proteins are essential for a variety of biological processes, our understanding of how they elicit their function has been limited. However, with the recent determination of high-resolution 3D structures of several examples, we have gained insight into the distinct shapes and mechanisms that have evolved to confer interfacial activity. It is now a matter of harnessing this information, and these systems, for biotechnological purposes.
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Marieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schor
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
authors.forename: Jack L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. Electronic address: cait.macphee@ed.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Cait E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: MacPhee
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK. Electronic address: n.r.stanleywall@dundee.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Nicola R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Stanley-Wall
mesh_terms: D011487:Protein Conformation; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D013500:Surface Tension; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D013501:Surface-Active Agents