Abstract
DENSITIES of the interiors of nine protein molecules were calculated using atomic coordinates obtained by X-ray crystallography. The resulting values, obtained for spherical regions of the molecules surrounding their centres of mass, are 10–25% below the apparent densities of the same molecules in solution. These regions include 20–50% of the total molecular mass. The densities calculated were 1.09–1.25 g cm−3 whereas the observed apparent solution densities of these proteins are 1.33–1.42 g cm−3.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cohn, E. J., and Edsall, J. T., Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins, Ch. 16 (Reinhold, New York, 1942).
Low, B. W., and Richards, F. M., J. Am. chem. Soc., 76, 2511 (1954).
Richards, F. M., A. Rev. Biochem., 32, 278 (1963).
McMeekin, T. L., Groves, M. L., and Hipp, N. J., J. Polym. Sci., 12, 309 (1954).
Lee, B., and Richards, F. M., J. molec. Biol., 55, 379 (1971).
Birktoft, J., and Blow, D. W., J. molec. Biol., 68, 187 (1972).
Dayhoff, M. O., Atlas of Protein Structures, 5, (National Biomedical Research Foundation, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, 1972).
Handbook of Biochemistry, second ed., C-10 (Chemical Rubber Co., Cleveland, 1970).
Smith, E. L., Brown, D. M., and Hanson, H. T., J. biol. Chem., 180, 33 (1949).
Schwert, G. W., and Kaufman, S., J. biol. Chem., 190, 807 (1951).
Sophianopoulos, A. J., Rhodes, C. K., Holcomb, D. N., and Van Holde, K. E., J. biol. Chem., 237, 1107 (1962).
Rothen, A. J., J. gen. Physiol., 24, 203 (1940–41).
Heins, J. N., Suriano, J. R., Taniuchi, H., and Anfinsen, C. B., J. biol Chem., 242, 1016 (1967).
Markland, F. S., jun., and Smith, E. L., in The Enzymes, third ed. (edit. by Boyer, P. D.) 3, 564 (Academic, New York and London, 1971).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
KAUZMANN, W., MOORE, K. & SCHULTZ, D. Protein densities from X-ray crystallographic coordinates. Nature 248, 447–449 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/248447a0
Received:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/248447a0
This article is cited by
-
Molecular Docking of Phenylethylamine and CGP54626 to an Extracellular Domain of the GABAB-Receptor
Neurophysiology (2018)
-
Classification of protein fold classes by knot theory and prediction of folds by neural networks: A combined theoretical and experimental approach
Theoretical Chemistry Accounts (2008)
-
Shape of phosphofructokinase fromEscherichia coli in solution
Protoplasma (1977)
