beta_helix Staff Lv 1
Heart attack, stroke and Alzheimer's may not affect you right now, but we all get older eventually and more people in Europe and the United States die of cardiovascular disease than cancer.
Gas nitric oxide (NO) is produced in the body for communication between cells. The NO receptor in turn produces another messenger molecule cGMP. cGMP is important for regulation of blood flow in the blood vessels, inhibition of white clot formation or communication between nerve cells for memory formation. NO binds to heme which is embedded in the NO receptor protein. You know heme because it is also embedded in the protein hemoglobin and gives the red color to blood. In the NO receptor, heme is bound to the beta-subunit.
Until now, nobody was able to crystallize this heme-binding-domain of the human NO receptor. Help us to get the structural information and understand the activation mechanism of NO heme. By bringing the field forward there is a chance that you may profit from new drugs once you need it.
Have fun with puzzle 407!