Editing Dimerization (section)

=== Protein dimers ===
[[File:Tubulin_dimer.png|thumb|312x312px|class=skin-invert-image|Tubulin dimer]]
[[Protein dimer]]s arise from the interaction between two [[protein]]s which can interact further to form larger and more complex [[oligomer]]s.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Marianayagam |first1=Neelan J. |last2=Sunde |first2=Margaret |last3=Matthews |first3=Jacqueline M. |date=2004 |title=The power of two: protein dimerization in biology |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tibs.2004.09.006 |journal=Trends in Biochemical Sciences |volume=29 |issue=11 |pages=618–625 |doi=10.1016/j.tibs.2004.09.006 |pmid=15501681 |issn=0968-0004|url-access=subscription }}</ref> For example, [[tubulin]] is formed by the dimerization of [[Tubulin|α-tubulin]] and [[Tubulin|β-tubulin]] and this dimer can then [[Polymerization|polymerize]] further to make [[microtubule]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cooper |first=Geoffrey M. |date=2000 |title=Microtubules |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK9932/ |journal=The Cell: A Molecular Approach. 2nd Edition |language=en}}</ref> For symmetric proteins, the larger protein complex can be broken down into smaller identical [[protein subunit]]s, which then dimerize to decrease the genetic code required to make the functional protein.<ref name=":1" />