4 ms·
The receptors have these floppy loops which are great for bending into the right conformation to recognise different things. It turns out that if they have a fe
by hirenj 4y ago
The receptors have these floppy loops which are great for bending into the right conformation to recognise different things. It turns out that if they have a few aromatic residues they just happen to recognise carbon nanotubes. It’s unlikely this is something that evolved, and much more just some bad luck in recognising this particular shape.
- robbintt 4y agoWouldn't an aromatic loop have a high affinity for anything with some relatively large / low density (amenable to moving around) electron field?
- maxbond 4y agoSomething that tickles me about this idea is that, if you think of proteins recognizing these small molecules as lock-and-key (I know that model is outmoded), this is the equivalent of a self-impressioning attack (like the Bic pen attack on cheap tubular locks).