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Updated: Sep 21, 2026

Optimization of Synthetic Proteins: Identification of Interpositional Dependencies Indicating Structurally and/or Functionally Linked Residues
Published on: July 14, 2015
Conformational issues in the characterization of proteins
1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland, U.K.
Abstract:
The conformation of a protein refers to the three-dimensional arrangement of its constituent atoms. Since expression of the biological activity of a protein depends on its conformation, it is clear that full characterization of a protein involves an understanding of its three-dimensional structure. This review outlines the principal techniques for determining the conformation of a protein, describes the crucial role played by the flexibility of proteins, and gives an account of current theories of the mechanisms by which proteins fold. A final section deals with strategies that can be adopted to preserve the conformational integrity of proteins; an aspect that is of increasing importance as a greater number of proteins are finding applications in industrial processes and as therapeutic and diagnostic agents.
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