How can we distinguish between a crystallographic dimer and a non-crystallographic dimer ?.
When studying the 3C protease protein across different viruses, researchers often observe dimeric interfaces in crystal structures. Interestingly, although there’s a certain degree of sequence homology across these proteases, the specific dimer orientation in crystal structures can vary significantly, suggesting that these proteins don’t always form a conserved “home” dimer. This variation might be due to sequence differences, but it raises an important question: how can we tell whether a dimer observed in a crystal structure is a genuine biological (non-crystallographic) dimer or just a crystallographic artifact resulting from the symmetry of the crystal lattice?
Understanding this distinction is essential, as it impacts how we interpret protein interactions and function in a biological context.