T-R Transition

Abstract

Insulin hexamers crystallize in essentially three different structural states that have all been defined by high-resolution X-ray analysis. In solution these structural states are related by dynamic equilibria, the transitions between them being ligand controlled. The history of the detection and investigation of the solution structural transitions is outlined and a few recent results are presented. Meanwhile insulin has been established as an outstanding model for the study of allosterism and cooperativity, respectively.