A protein folding mystery solved: Study explains core packing fractions

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: PRX Life (2025). DOI: 10.1103/PRXLife.3.013018 In living organisms, every protein—a type of biological polymer consisting of hundreds of amino acids—carries out specific functions, such as catalysis, molecule transport, or DNA repair. To perform these functions, they must fold up into specific shapes. It's a complex process that's critical to life, and despite advances in the field, there remain many open questions about the process. A study published in PRX Life sheds some light on this issue, and could lead to new ways to design proteins for drug therapeutics, novel biomaterials, and other applications. The researchers, led by Corey O'Hern, developed computational models for all globular proteins in the Protein Data Bank, an online database, and measured their interior core regions to determine ... Read full article.