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Related Concept Videos

Conformity01:20

Conformity

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Conformity is the change in a person’s behavior to go along with the group, even if that person does not agree with the group.
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Conformations of Butane02:20

Conformations of Butane

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Unlike ethane and propane that have only two major conformations, butane has more than two conformers. The staggered form of butane in which the bulky methyl groups on the two carbons are placed on opposite sides, that is, at a dihedral angle of 180°, is the lowest energy, most stable form — called the anti conformer. This conformation is stabilized due to the absence of steric repulsion between the largely spaced out methyl groups. The other two staggered conformations are...
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Conformations of Cycloalkanes02:29

Conformations of Cycloalkanes

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Adolf von Baeyer attempted to explain the instabilities of small and large cycloalkane rings using the concept of angle strain — the strain caused by the deviation of bond angles from the ideal 109.5° tetrahedral value for sp3  hybridized carbons. However, while cyclopropane and cyclobutane are strained, as expected from their highly compressed bond angles, cyclopentane is more strained than predicted, and cyclohexane is virtually strain-free. Hence, Baeyer’s theory that...
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Conformations of Cyclohexane02:11

Conformations of Cyclohexane

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Cyclohexane does not exist in a planar form due to the high angle and torsional strain it would experience in the planar structure. Instead, it adopts non-planar chair and boat conformations.
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In an organic molecule, free rotation about the carbon-carbon single bond results in energetically different conformers of the molecule. Due to this rotation, called the internal rotation, ethane has two major conformations — staggered and eclipsed.
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Chair Conformation of Cyclohexane02:02

Chair Conformation of Cyclohexane

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The chair conformation is the most stable form of cyclohexane due to the absence of angle and torsional strain. The absence of angle strain is a result of cyclohexane’s bond angle being very close to the ideal tetrahedral bond angle of 109.5° in its chair conformer. Similarly, the torsional strain is also absent owing to the perfectly staggered arrangement of bonds.
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Light-Controlled Fermentations for Microbial Chemical and Protein Production
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Controlling protein conformation with light.

Onur Dagliyan1, Klaus M Hahn2

  • 1Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, United States.

Current Opinion in Structural Biology
|March 9, 2019
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Optogenetics uses light to precisely control protein activity in cells and animals. New methods engineer light-responsive domains to switch protein conformations, expanding optogenetic applications beyond ion channels.

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Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Optogenetics enables precise control of protein activity using light.
  • Light-sensitive ion channels are established tools in neurobiology.
  • Recent advancements extend optogenetic control to diverse protein structures.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review methods for controlling protein conformations with light.
  • To focus on engineered domains that sterically and allosterically control protein active sites.
  • To highlight the application of light in switching proteins to physiologically relevant states.

Main Methods:

  • Incorporation of light-responsive engineered domains into proteins.
  • Utilizing steric and allosteric mechanisms for light-induced conformational changes.
  • Application of optogenetic principles to control protein function.

Main Results:

  • Demonstration of light-controlled switching between protein conformations.
  • Expansion of optogenetic tools beyond ion channels.
  • Precise temporal and spatial control of engineered protein activity.

Conclusions:

  • Optogenetics offers powerful strategies for manipulating protein function with light.
  • Engineered light-responsive domains provide novel means to control protein activity.
  • This approach broadens the scope of optogenetics in biological research.