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7. Small Structures in Biology

Many of the important functions of the cell involve small molecules. The list includes substrates or inhibitors of essential enzyme systems, coenzymes, vitamins, antibiotics, steroid hormones and toxic chemicals. A few illustrative examples follow. They will show the techniques used and the types of information that result. Many good examples are not given because of space and time limitations.

a. Uses of cell dimensions and refractive indices
b. Determination of chemical formulae
c. Studies of flexible molecules to obtain comformational information
d. Studies of molecular packing and hydrogen bonding
e. Studies of enzyme mechanism utilizing structures of substrates and inhibitors
f. Comparisons of structures using the Cambridge Crystallographic Data file

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