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Leibniz-Institut fr
Molekulare Pharmakologie,
Campus Berlin-Buch,
Berlin, 13125, Germany.
Correspondence to T.L.B.
e-mail:
tom@cryst.bioc.cam.ac.uk
doi:10.1038/nrm2762
Published online
16 September 2009
Chaperone
A protein that assists in the
folding or unfolding and
the assembly or disassembly
of other macromolecular
structures.
Neutral drift
The process whereby random
sampling effects over
successive generations give
rise to stochastic changes in
the allele frequencies within
a population.
-lactamase
An enzyme produced by some
bacteria that confers resistance
to lactam antibiotics.
Structural and functional constraints
in the evolution of protein families
Catherine L. Worth*