Post 25: The scales of proteins ⏳

One of the most beautiful (and laborious) aspects of proteins is that, to fully understand their function, we must study them at different scales of time and space. And this is what this image illustrates.

For example, if we want to study their interaction with other proteins to form protein complexes, we must study them at a “mesoscale” because it is impossible for us to consider all the energetic conditions established during the process. But if we want to study catalysis, we must study down to the finest detail using quantum mechanics to understand aspects as fine as the transfer of electrons that occur during the process.

Refs:

1. Coarse-Grained Protein Models and Their Applications
2. Mesoscale: Modeling the dynamics of the bacterial flagellum considering its 175 protein subunits
3. Quantum Scale: Modeling how DNA is cut by the CRISPR-Cas9 system