P53 is an important tumor suppressor referred to as guardian of the genome. It is also implicated in ageing and has the potential to arrest the cell cycle.
To exert its effect p53 binds to DNA and changes conformation in the process. Such conformational changes are an important aspect of protein function and are displayed here as a dynamic computer-generated morph between two distinct structural states, which were determined experimentally.
The structures used for the morph were:
2IOI: Crystal structure of the mouse p53 core domain at 1.55 A DOI: 10.1107/S090744490603890X
3EXJ: Crystal Structure of a p53 Core Tetramer Bound to DNA DOI: 10.1038/onc.2008.400
Special thanks to Christoph Campregher (chris@trockenmoos.com) for his support with the sound!
