= Russell F. Doolittle
{c}
{title2=1931–2019}
<Russell F. Doolittle> was a researcher in <protein> structure and <molecular evolution> at UC San Diego. His investigations connected the chemistry of <fibrinogen> and <fibrinopeptides> with comparisons of inherited molecular differences among species.<Russell Doolittle in University of California In Memoriam>[Memorial: fibrinopeptide comparisons, fibrinogen studies and evolutionary relationships]{ref}
With <Andrew P. Laudano>, <Russell F. Doolittle> tested synthetic <peptides> resembling the exposed ends of <fibrin> chains. Gly-Pro-Arg-Pro bound <fibrinogen> and its distal fragment D and inhibited <fibrin> <polymerization>, helping locate a binding interaction involved in assembly.<Synthetic peptide derivatives that bind to fibrinogen and prevent the polymerization of fibrin monomers by Andrew P. Laudano and Russell F. Doolittle>[Abstract: synthetic peptides, fragment binding and inhibition]{ref}
The experiment gives a small molecule an explanatory role: an imitation of one binding element can occupy a site without connecting two full-sized molecules. Interrupting network formation in this way tests a specific molecular contact. The same interest in <protein sequences> also supports a different kind of inference: comparing related molecules across species can reveal evolutionary relationships.
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