Question

Once the structure of one member of a membrane protein family has been determined, researchers can usually apply a strategy called __________ to learn about the structure and activity of other members of the family. For example, solution of the structure of the bacterial potassium channel KcsA provided a lot of data that could be applied to the structure and mechanism of action of the much more complex eukaryotic potassium channels.

a) heterology modeling
b) homology mapping
c) homology modeling
d) protein mapping
e) homologous characterization

Answer 1

Researchers can use homology modeling to predict the structures and functions of related membrane proteins based on the known structure of one member of the protein family.

Step-by-step explanation:

Once the structure of one member of a membrane protein family has been determined, researchers can utilize a process known as homology modeling to learn about the structure and activity of other members of the same family. This method is particularly useful when direct structural information for a protein is difficult to obtain.

For instance, the structural resolution of the bacterial potassium channel KcsA provided important insights that could be translated to understand eukaryotic potassium channels, which are more complex.

Homology modeling relies on the assumption that proteins within the same family will share a high degree of structural similarity, thereby allowing scientists to predict the structure of related proteins using the known structure as a template.