Ribbon Diagram - Features of Ribbon Diagrams

Features of Ribbon Diagrams

Secondary Structure
α-Helices Cylindrical spiral ribbons, with ribbon plane approximately following plane of peptides.
β-Strand Arrows with thickness, about one-quarter as thick as they are wide, shows direction and twist of the strand from amino to the carboxyl end. β-sheets are seen as unified, because neighboring strands twist in unison.
Loops and miscellaneous
Nonrepetitive loops Round ropes that are fatter in the foreground and thinner towards the back, following smoothed path of Cα trace.
Junctions between loops and helices Round rope that gradually flattens out into a thin helical ribbon.
Other features
Polypeptide direction,

NH2 and COOH termini

Small arrows on one or both of the termini or by letters. For β-strands, the direction of the arrow is sufficient. Today, the direction of the polypeptide chain is often indicated by a colour ramp.
Disulfide bonds Interlocked SS symbol or a zigzag, like a stylized lightning stroke
Prosthetic groups or inhibitors Stick figures, or ball&stick.
Metals Spheres (e.g., see top image).
Shading and colour Shading or colour adds dimensionality to the diagram. Generally, the features at the front are the strongest, while becoming lower in contrast towards the back (as in the triose P isomerase drawing above).

Read more about this topic:  Ribbon Diagram

Famous quotes containing the words features of, features, ribbon and/or diagrams:

    It is a tribute to the peculiar horror of contemporary life that it makes the worst features of earlier times—the stupefaction of the masses, the obsessed and driven lives of the bourgeoisie—seem attractive by comparison.
    Christopher Lasch (b. 1932)

    These, then, will be some of the features of democracy ... it will be, in all likelihood, an agreeable, lawless, particolored commonwealth, dealing with all alike on a footing of equality, whether they be really equal or not.
    Plato (c. 427–347 B.C.)

    perpetually crouched, quivering, upon the
    sternly allotted sandpile
    Mhow silently
    emit a tiny violet flavoured nuisance: Odor?

    o no.
    comes out like a ribbon lies flat on the brush
    —E.E. (Edward Estlin)

    Professors could silence me then; they had figures, diagrams, maps, books.... I was learning that books and diagrams can be evil things if they deaden the mind of man and make him blind or cynical before subjection of any kind.
    Agnes Smedley (1890–1950)