Intro:
This particular enzyme is an oxidative enzyme that imparts bioluminescence to the firefly Photinus pyralis. In research, the enzyme is used to study anesthetic-protein interactions.
Ref:
Structural basis for the inhibition of firefly luciferase by a general anesthetic.
Franks, N.P., Jenkins, A., Conti, E., Lieb, W.R., Brick, P. Biophys.J. v75 pp. 2205-11, 1998
Image:
Interpretation: Most of the enzyme is variable except for a small site we believe to be the oxidation site for luciferin.
Questions:
Biological: Why is most of the protein variable? What does this mean about the structure of the protein?
Technical: How do we get the rotating space filled model into this blog.