ABSTRACT
What are the principles that underly protein actions? The mechanisms of proteins in motors, pumps, transporters, and signal and energy transducers, and in processes of regulation, catalysis, and self-assembly can seem extraordinarily clever and diverse. Yet, such complex actions are often simply the consequences of elementary underlying binding or unbinding events. Here, we describe binding processes, including coupled binding and allostery, which serve as a language for biological mechanisms, actions, and machines. This chapter draws from [1], where additional details can be found.
