If we can see further into the details of molecular structure, it is because we are standing on several strong sets of shoulders, of which Norman ‘‘Lou’’ Allinger’s are one. Many of us remember the days when small molecule modeling was done almost solely with his ‘‘MM’’ series of programs, MM1, MM2, MM3, MM4 which Lou painstakingly parameterized for the particular chemical functionality of his ...

NMR spectroscopy plays a major role in the determination of the structures and dynamics of proteins and other biological macromolecules. Chemical shifts are the most readily and accurately measurable NMR parameters, and they reflect with great specificity the conformations of native and nonnative states of proteins. We show, using 11 examples of proteins representative of the major structural c...

In 1993, a Commentary in this journal described how a simple mechanical model of cell structure based on tensegrity architecture can help to explain how cell shape, movement and cytoskeletal mechanics are controlled, as well as how cells sense and respond to mechanical forces (J. Cell Sci. 104, 613-627). The cellular tensegrity model can now be revisited and placed in context of new advances in...

Abstract The development of multi-stable structural forms has attracted considerable attention in the design architected multi-materials, metamaterials, and morphing structures, as a result some unusual properties such negative stiffness and, possibly, Poisson's ratio. Multi-stability is achieved through morphological change shape upon loading, doing so structures undergo transitions from one e...

The oxygen-evolving complex (OEC) of Photosystem II (PSII) is an oxomanganese complex that catalyzes water-splitting into O2, protons and electrons. Recent breakthroughs in X-ray crystallography have resolved the cuboidal OEC structure at 1.9 Å resolution, stimulating significant interest in studies of structure/function relations. This article summarizes recent advances on studies of the OEC a...