1993/01/01 by E. Gail Hutchinson, Janet M. Thornton · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Protein Structure and Dynamics #RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms #Chemical Synthesis and Analysis
paper · doi:10.1093/protein/6.3.233
openalex publication_date 1993/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The Greek key is a very common structural motif in proteins. It has been traditionally defined as four beta-strands with '+3,-1,-1' topology. This definition encompasses motifs with several different three-dimensional structures. We have classified Greek keys, based on their hydrogen bonding patterns, into three groups with similar three-dimensional structures. All examples of Greek keys in each of these classes have been automatically extracted using a set of programs. Analysis of these examples shows the variability of secondary structure segment length and sequences of Greek keys even within one class. This variability suggests that no single folding pathway is likely to fit all Greek key structures.