@oristarA,
oristarA wrote:
Context:
"The key finding of this paper is that we can distinguish the shape of the protein targeted by useful antibodies," said senior author Bing Chen, PhD, of the Division of Molecular Medicine at Children's. "That means we can think about designing immunogens trapped in this defined structure and ways to prevent the protein from forming into an irrelevant conformation."
I'd like to know where this paper was published. It's hard to believe that it was published in any significant Journal in the USA. Basically, the structure of a protein does play a role in determining the shape of this protein. But I would never say that the shape of a protein=defined structure.
Shape is not structure. Rather, shape refers to conformation of the protein.
Namely, all globular proteins have a "globular shape", but this does not mean that they have the same / identical chemical and physical properties.
If you're a protein biochemist or an enzymologist, it's easy to understand what the author means. However, for the lay person, I doubt that understanding the paper would come easy.
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