How does the structure of the affected muscle protein compare with the unaffected muscle protein?
Are there differences? The one difference between the two proteins is seen in the view along the z-axis. The affected muscle protein has an opening that is not present in the unaffected muscle protein. • Do these results support a way that the virus could cause the disease? They could. It is possible that the affected muscle protein can interact with the virus protein because its structure is different from that of the unaffected muscle protein. Students might wonder how this interaction could occur. They might speculate that the virus protein interacts with parts of the affected muscle protein around the opening that exists. It may also be that the virus protein interacts with some other region of the affected muscle protein. • On the basis of these results, what approach might be taken to develop a drug to treat the disease? This is another opportunity for students to relate structure to function. They might reason that the affected muscle protein interacts with the virus protein and
