Neu is a membrane-bound protein whose structure
includes a single helix which spans the width of a
cellular membrane. It is a growth factor receptor
which dimerizes (forms pairs) when signaling cell
growth and proliferation. Key mutations at a specific
location in the transmembrane domain (TMD) of the neu
protein have been demonstrated to result in permanent
dimerization of mutated pairs, and are simultaneously
associated with the formation of cancerous tumors.
The physical effects of these key point mutations
that lead to such permanent dimerization are not
known. Atomistic molecular...