https://phys.org/news/2022-09-rippled-s ... otein.html
by University of California - Santa Cruz
An unusual protein structure known as a "rippled beta sheet," first predicted in 1953, has now been created in the laboratory and characterized in detail using X-ray crystallography.
The new findings, published in July in Chemical Science, may enable the rational design of unique materials based on the rippled sheet architecture.
"Our study establishes the rippled beta sheet layer configuration as a motif with general features and opens the road to structure-based design of unique molecular architectures, with potential for materials development and biomedical applications," said Jevgenij Raskatov, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UC Santa Cruz and corresponding author of the paper.
Proteins come in an enormous range of shapes and sizes to carry out their myriad structural and functional roles in living cells. Certain common structural motifs, such as the alpha helix, are found in many protein structures.