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by Eric Martz
SARS-CoV-2 spike protein "spears" the host membrane with a fusion peptide and drags the virus envelope membrane transmembrane domain close to the host membrane, initiating fusion. This moves the virus RNA genome into the host cell, initiating infection.
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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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by Eric Martz
The Ramachandran Principle says that alpha helices, beta strands, and turns are the most likely conformations for a polypeptide chain to adopt, because most other conformations are impossible due to steric collisions between atoms. Check Show Clashes to see where non-bonded atoms are overlapping, and thus in physically impossible positions.

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