cystine knot

English

Noun

cystine knot (plural cystine knots)

1. (biochemistry) A protein structural motif containing three disulfide bridges formed from pairs of cysteine residues. The sections of polypeptide that occur between two of them form a loop through which a third disulfide bond passes, resulting in a rotaxane substructure. This motif stabilizes protein structure and is conserved in proteins across various species.