Lab news: TMV model

 

Playing with a TMV model...

Playing a bit with Chimera (http://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimera/) and the with great new model from Ge and Zhou (http://www.pnas.org/content/108/23/9637), 3J06 (http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/explore/explore.do?structureId=3J06). 49 coat proteins form three helical turns. Green = hydrophobic (including Pro), yellow= hydrophilic, RNA not shown. The outer surface, exposed to the environment, is mainly hydrophilic, as expected, but the helical groove exposes hydrophobic residues. How is such an object hydrated?