http://www.idkfa.com/v3 idkfa: syndicated http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=4226&msg_id=4235 Sounds to me like a complex way of saying, "Modeling showed it fit like a lock and key!" This shows a bunch of structures of CaMKII, probably determined by x-ray crystallography. Then, they modeled how those structures would fit together with tubulin proteins. A 'perfect match' would indicate sweet binding site interactions. Scrotor@idkfa.com (Scrotor) Asked and Answered Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:27:05 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=4226&msg_id=4235 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=4226&msg_id=4228 Any idea what they mean by: "Using molecular modeling, Craddock et al reveal a perfect match among spatial dimensions, geometry and electrostatic binding of the insect-like CaMKII, and hexagonal lattices of tubulin proteins in microtubules. A "perfect match" seems like a weird thing to say in a scientific article. kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Asked and Answered Mon, 12 Mar 2012 01:09:15 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=4226&msg_id=4228 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=4226&msg_id=4227 Microtubules play a key role in cellular structure and function. Wikipedia explains it much more succinctly than I can. The takeaways are that microtubules give many cells structure, proteins bind to microtubules, microtubules are used to transport intracellularly, and that they play an important role in mitosis. I would also point out that they are typically dynamic in cells, in that the growing end is capped, cut, extended, etc. which is critical to the information storage function that article describes (and would be permanent, it seems). So they would essentially encode a 'state' that could be reproduced. Very interesting article, good find. Scrotor@idkfa.com (Scrotor) Asked and Answered Sat, 10 Mar 2012 23:43:58 -0900 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=4226&msg_id=4227 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=4226&msg_id=4226 This sounds legit as hell, but I'm not exactly keen on what they're describing here. It sounds like they've identified a plausible storage mechanism for information within 'microtubules' within brain cells. Can anybody comment? kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Asked and Answered Sat, 10 Mar 2012 22:58:10 -0900 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=4226&msg_id=4226