This animation, created by Ariadna Villalbi, includes a series of visualizations that help biology students to understand the difference between the following ‘mental models’ for how conformation and conformational change drives binding:

• Lock-and-key (i.e. the simplest analogy used which just gets students to think about shape complementarity)

• ‘Induced-fit’ (i.e. the interaction itself ‘pushes’ the bindee into a conformation that is more energetically favorable and stable)

• Molecular breathing, conformational landscapes and capturing ‘permissive’ binding conformations

Suggested Use

Biology instructors can use this animation to help undergraduate students understand the difference between various ‘mental models’ for how conformation and conformational change drives protein binding.