Today's fold

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p53 P04637

A tumour-suppressor protein that helps a cell pause to repair its DNA — or self-destruct when the damage is too great. Its gene is mutated in a large fraction of human cancers, which is why it is one of the most-studied proteins in biology.

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The whole set

Today's pick is drawn from this small, curated set — not from 200+ million entries. Open any of them:

p53 P04637 — A tumour-suppressor protein that helps a cell pause to repair its DNA — or self-destruct when the damage is too great. Its gene is mutated in a large fraction of human cancers, which is why it is one of the most-studied proteins in biology.
Haemoglobin β P68871 — One of the four subunits of haemoglobin, the molecule that ferries oxygen in red blood cells. A single amino-acid change in this subunit is the classic example of a point mutation, the one behind sickle-cell disease.
Insulin P01308 — The hormone that tells cells to take up glucose from the blood after a meal. It was the first protein to have its complete amino-acid sequence worked out.
Green fluorescent protein P42212 — A jellyfish protein that glows green under blue light. Biologists borrowed it as a tag to watch when and where other proteins appear inside living cells.
SARS-CoV-2 spike P0DTC2 — The surface protein that the SARS-CoV-2 virus uses to latch onto and enter human cells. It is the piece the first COVID-19 vaccines were designed around.
EGFR P00533 — A receptor that sits in the cell membrane and signals the cell to grow and divide when it binds its growth factor. It is a well-known drug target in several cancers.
Myoglobin P02144 — An oxygen-storing protein that gives muscle its red colour. It was the very first protein to have its three-dimensional structure revealed by X-ray crystallography.
Calmodulin P0DP23 — A small sensor protein that binds calcium and then switches many other proteins on or off. It is a central relay for the calcium signals a cell uses to make decisions.
CFTR P13569 — A channel that moves chloride ions across cell membranes to keep surface fluids balanced. The loss of a single residue, ΔF508, is the most common change seen in cystic fibrosis.
ABL1 kinase P00519 — An enzyme that attaches phosphate groups to other proteins to pass along growth signals. A gene fusion that leaves it stuck 'on' is associated with chronic myeloid leukaemia.
BRCA1 P38398 — A protein that helps a cell repair double-strand breaks in its DNA. Certain inherited variants in its gene are linked to a higher lifetime risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
Serum albumin P02768 — The most abundant protein in blood plasma. It acts as a molecular taxi, carrying hormones, fatty acids and many drugs around the body.