General Structure and Classification

Receptor tyrosine kinases are integral membrane proteins that have a hgand-binding domain on the extracellular side and a tyrosine kinase domain on the cytosohc side (see Fig. 8.1). The transmembrane portion is made up of just one structural element thus it is assumed that it crosses the membrane in an a-hehcal form. On the cytoplasmic side, in addition to the conserved tyrosine kinase domain, there are also further regulatory sequence portions at which autophosphorylation, and phosphorylation and dephosphorylation by other protein kinases and by protein phosphatases, can take place. 

The more than 100-strong family of mammalian receptor tyrosine kinases can be divided into different subfamilies, which are named according to their naturally occurring ligands (Fantl et al., 1993). The subfamilies are classified according to the structure 

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Selected entries from Methods in Enzymology [vol, page(s)] General Protein kinase classification, 200, 3 protein kinase catalytic domain sequence database identification of conserved features of primary structure and classification of family members,... 

General accounts of zeolite structures and classification schemes can be found in several recent articles (20, 35, 50) and tables (54). 

Individual plasma membrane receptors are grouped into the categories of ion channel receptors, receptors that are kinases or bind kinases, and receptors that work through second messengers. This classification is based on the receptor s general structure and means of signal transduction. 

Inevitably, there is a certain degree of overlapping between these two general classifications. For instance, CVD optical applications are found as both coatings and fibers while fibers are used in optics as well as in structural and mechanical applications. These relationships will be reviewed in the several chapters on applications. 

The situation in the solid state is generally more complex. Several examples of binary systems were seen in which, in the solid state, a number of phases (intermediate and terminal) are formed. See for instance Figs 2.18-2.21. Both stoichiometric phases (compounds) and variable composition phases (solid solutions) may be considered and, as for their structures, both fully ordered or more or less completely disordered phases. This variety of types is characteristic for the solid alloys. After a few comments on liquid alloys, particular attention will therefore be dedicated in the following paragraphs to the description and classification of solid intermetallic phases. 

As a starting point in the description of the solid intermetallic phases it is useful to recall that their identification and classification requires information about their chemical composition and structure. To be consistent with other fields of descriptive chemistry, this information should be included in specific chemical and structural formulae built up according to well-defined rules. This task, however, in the specific domain of the intermetallic phases, or more generally in the area of solid-state chemistry, is much more complicated than for other chemical compounds. This complexity is related both to the chemical characteristics (formation of variable composition phases) and to the structural properties, since the intermetallic compounds are generally non-molecular in nature, while the conventional chemical symbolism has been mainly developed for the representation of molecular units. As a consequence there is no complete, or generally accepted, method of representing the formulae of intermetallic compounds. 

Comments on some trends and on the Divides in the Periodic Table. It is clear that, on the basis also of the atomic structure of the different elements, the subdivision of the Periodic Table in blocks and the consideration of its groups and periods are fundamental reference tools in the description and classification of the properties and behaviour of the elements and in the definition of typical trends in such characteristics. Well-known chemical examples are the valence-electron numbers, the oxidation states, the general reactivity, etc. As far as the intermetallic reactivity is concerned, these aspects will be examined in detail in the various paragraphs of Chapter 5 where, for the different groups of metals, the alloying behaviour, its trend and periodicity will be discussed. A few more particular trends and classification criteria, which are especially relevant in specific positions of the Periodic Table, will be summarized here. 

From this information, general principles for the design of spherical molecular hosts have been developed. [11] These principles rely on the use of convex uniform polyhedra as models for spheroid design. To demonstrate the usefulness of this approach, structural classification of organic, inorganic, and biological hosts - frameworks which can be rationally compared on the basis of symmetry - has revealed an interplay between symmetry, structure, and function. [53]... 

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