Topology of protein folding

It is shown that the topological concepts developed previously for the anal ysis of conformations for strips, double-stranded DNA helices, or elastic t hin rods can fruitfully be applied to the study of tertiary folding for com plicated protein structures. The topological characteristics determine the integral chirality of proteins and play an important role in the mechanisms of folding and molecular recognition. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.