In biochemistry, a protein dimer is a macromolecular complex formed by two protein monomers, or single proteins, which are usually non-covalently bound. Many macromolecules, such as proteins or nucleic acids, form dimers. The word dimer has roots meaning "two parts", di- + -mer. A protein dimer is a type of protein quaternary structure.
A protein homodimer is formed by two identical proteins. A protein heterodimer is formed by two different proteins.
Most protein dimers in biochemistry are not connected by covalent bonds. An example of a non-covalent heterodimer is the enzyme reverse transcriptase, which is composed of two different amino acid chains.[1] An exception is dimers that are linked by disulfide bridgessuch as the homodimeric protein NEMO.[2]
Some proteins contain specialized domains to ensure dimerization (dimerization domains) and specificity.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_dimer
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