Protein folding
Definition
The process by which a chain of amino acids adopts the three-dimensional shape that determines what it does.
Function follows shape, and shape follows sequence — but the mapping is not obvious, which is why predicting a structure from a sequence was a fifty-year open problem. It is now largely solved for single well-folded proteins and largely not for disordered regions and multi-chain complexes.
Where this comes up
Articles that define protein folding in context.
