When myomesin is pulled, as it is when muscles contract and extend, its helices (green) unfold. This strategy, discovered by scientists at EMBL Hamburg, enables the elastic part of the protein to stretch to two and a half times its original length. Published in PLoS Biology on Feb. 14 2012. More information: www.embl.org/press/2012/20120214_Hamburg.
(Photo Credit: EMBL/Wilmanns)