protein

PHOTO: WENDIE BERGIn 1953, the proposed structure of DNA magnificently linked biological function and structure. By contrast, 4 years later, the first elucidation of the structure of a protein—myoglobin, by Kendrew and colleagues—revealed…

Eukaryotic genomes contain domesticated genes from integrating viruses and mobile genetic elements. Among these are homologs of the capsid protein (known as Gag) of long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons and retroviruses. We identified…

Deep learning takes on protein foldingIn 1972, Anfinsen won a Nobel prize for demonstrating a connection between a protein's amino acid sequence and its three-dimensional structure. Since 1994, scientists have competed in the biannual…

SummaryProteins are the minions of life, working alone or together to build, manage, fuel, protect, and eventually destroy cells. Last year, in a result hailed as a turning point, computational biologists showed that artificial intelligence…

The Rett syndrome protein MeCP2 was described as a methyl-CpG-binding protein, but its exact function remains unknown. Here we show that mouse MeCP2 is a microsatellite binding protein that specifically recognizes hydroxymethylated CA…

Methyl readers that repress transcriptionDNA methylation is a conserved epigenetic mark required for gene silencing in many different organisms. However, how the methyl mark is able to silence genes is still largely unknown. Ichino et al.…

Revolution in an RNA-packaging capsidArtificial nucleocapsid proteins, which could be analogous to those used by viruses to package their genomes, are a promising way to protect and deliver RNAs. Using an escalating challenge by nucleases,…