Microstructures and Macrointerpretations

Molecular structures of proteins are key players of their specificity. Sometimes their structures are indicative to their functions.

Like, the extracellular domain of a Toll like receptor (Fig a) is responsible for the pattern recognition from pathogens and kick starts the body’s natural defense system. A breed of sheep called “Dorset” has horns and their frontal view looks like a pair of Toll like receptors. A Dorset sheep is shown to be sensitive to people face pattern and always tends to kick the unknown people trying to treat them.

An Ankyrin repeat (Fig b) is repetition of the unit containing “two alpha helices separated by a loop”. In fact the TLRs contain this motif. Such repeats on the receptors mediate anchoring one cell to the other thus the name ankyrin.

People must have foreseen the structure of yeast Fatty acid synthase (Fig c) around 340BC because the beer barrels were developed around those times. Although the history says that the particular shape of the barrels is to ease rolling, stacking and withstanding pressure, I say different. There was an unavoidable connection between the fatty acids and the beer.