The first crystal structure of OCP12 had been obtained before the function of the protein was understood.
In those early days, scientists knew the function of the protein and worked backward, taking years to isolate a single gene.
The non-coding RNA promotes recovery from ultraviolet-induced DNA damage, antagonizing the function of the protein product of the coding transcript.
Next, the function of the protein Cas9 was determined and could be used to cut DNA specifically with engineered RNAs, this was ground breaking(Jinek et al. 2012).
"With this chemical probe discovery, we could look for pinches of magic dust that would modulate the function of the protein," she says.
To overcome the problems of low solubility and dimerization, subdomain interactions were engineered without altering the function of the protein.
The former leads to a basic amino acid at pH = 7 (serine), whereas the latter encodes a neutral amino acid (alanine) that may affect the function of the protein.
A protein changes shape, and because it's self-perpetuating, it then changes the function of the protein, which in turn produces a new trait, a new appearance or a new way of metabolizing something.
Further work is necessary, specifically relating to the function of TANGO2 and impact of specific variants on the function of the protein as this may lead to targeted therapies in affected individuals.
The attention then shifted to the lipid-protein interface where it was thought that anesthetics may disturb the lipid microenvironment around the protein and thereby change the function of the protein.
We weren't able to come up with an antibody for the protein". Once the structure and the function of the protein is better known, this newly discovered duplicate protein may have important therapeutic implications.
