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You may include any references to papers as in: the use of JSmol in Proteopedia ^[1] or to the article describing Jmol ^[2] to the rescue.

Introduction to Miraculin

Miracle? I think you mean Miraculin. Miraculin is a protein that is best known for its ability to deceive human taste buds into thinking sour or acidic food is sweet. This homodimeric glycoprotein was first identified in the West African native fruit, Synsepalum dulcificum (also known as “Miracle Fruit”), and exists in the pulp of the miracle fruit. Miraculin’s deceptive properties have been exploited by several companies as sugar substitutes. However, the American Food and Drug Administration banned the use of miraculin after labeling it as an additive ^[3] . This prevented its commercial use in the food industry.

What We Know About Miraculin’s Structure

Miraculin is composed of 191 amino acid residues linked primarily by disulfide bonds, having a molecular weight of about 28 kDa. Sarroch Theerasil et al ^[4] use HPLC profiles and SDS-PAGE analyses to prove this. Miraculin is a homodimer made by two chains that have two N-glycosylated Asn residues and are cross-linked through a disulfide bridge. Miraculin can also exist in a tetramer form.

Predictivley-modeled structure of miraculin

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Miraculin’s interactions with human tongue receptors

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Miraculin-Like Proteins (MLPs)

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