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by Eric Martz
After decades of slow progress by many groups, in 2020, AlphaFold2 proved able to accurately predict the detailed structures of two-thirds of single protein domains from their amino acid sequences. Pictured is AlphaFold2's prediction for the ORF8 protein of SARS-CoV-2 (black), compared with a subsequently published X-ray crystallographic structure (colors). ORF8 contributes to virulence in COVID-19.
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by Eric Martz
A historical review on sculptures and physical models of macromolecules.

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G Atilla-Gocumen, L Di Costanzo, E Meggers. J Biol Inorg Chem. 2010 doi: 10.1007/s00775-010-0699-x
A crystal structure of an organometallic half-sandwich ruthenium complex bound to glycogen synthase kinase 3ß (GSK-3ß) reveals that the inhibitor binds to the ATP binding site via an induced fit mechanism utilizing several hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions. Importantly, the metal is not involved in any direct interaction with the protein kinase but fulfills a purely structural role.

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J Prilusky, E Hodis doi: 10.14576/431679.1869588
This tutorial is designed for high school and beginning college students. When we breathe oxygen from the air is taken up by blood in our lungs and soon delivered to each of the cells in our body through our circulatory system. Among other uses, our cells use oxygen as the final electron acceptor in a process called aerobic respiration – a process that converts the energy in food and nutrients into a form of energy that the cell can readily use (molecules of ATP, adenosine triphosphate).

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