Independent Researcher, Koranit 2018100, Israel.
Independent Researcher, Kiryat Motzkin 2641312, Israel.
Biomolecules. 2022 Apr 21;12(5):622. doi: 10.3390/biom12050622.
Protein folding and structural biology are highly active disciplines that combine basic research in various fields, including biology, chemistry, physics, and computer science, with practical applications in biomedicine and nanotechnology. However, there are still gaps in the understanding of the detailed mechanisms of protein folding, and protein structure-function relations. In an effort to bridge these gaps, this paper studies the equivalence of proteins and origami. Research on proteins and origami provides strong evidence to support the use of origami folding principles and mechanical models to explain aspects of proteins formation and function. Although not identical, the equivalence of origami and proteins emerges in: (i) the folding processes, (ii) the shape and structure of proteins and origami models, and (iii) the intrinsic mechanical properties of the folded structures/models, which allows them to synchronically fold/unfold and effectively distribute forces to the whole structure. As a result, origami can contribute to the understanding of various key protein-related mechanisms and support the design of de novo proteins and nanomaterials.
蛋白质折叠和结构生物学是高度活跃的学科，它将生物学、化学、物理学和计算机科学等各个领域的基础研究与生物医学和纳米技术的实际应用相结合。然而，在理解蛋白质折叠的详细机制和蛋白质结构-功能关系方面仍然存在差距。为了弥合这些差距，本文研究了蛋白质和折纸的等价性。蛋白质和折纸的研究为使用折纸折叠原理和力学模型来解释蛋白质形成和功能的某些方面提供了有力的证据。尽管并非完全相同，但折纸和蛋白质在以下方面具有等价性：（i）折叠过程，（ii）蛋白质和折纸模型的形状和结构，以及（iii）折叠结构/模型的内在机械特性，这使得它们能够同步折叠/展开，并有效地将力分配到整个结构。因此，折纸可以帮助理解各种关键的蛋白质相关机制，并支持从头设计蛋白质和纳米材料。
