When multiple copies of a polypeptide encoded by a gene self-assemble to form a complex, this protein structure is referred to as a "multimer".Crick FH, Orgel LE. The theory of inter-allelic complementation. J Mol Biol. 1964 Jan;8:161-5. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(64)80156-x. PMID: 14149958 Genes that encode multimer-forming polypeptides appear to be common. When a multimer is formed from polypeptides produced by two different mutant alleles of a particular gene, the mixed multimer may exhibit greater functional activity than the unmixed multimers formed by each of the mutants alone. In such a case, the phenomenon is referred to as intragenic complementation.Bernstein H, Edgar RS, Denhardt GH. Intragenic complementation among temperature sensitive mutants of bacteriophage T4D. Genetics. 1965;51(6):987-1002. Jehle pointed out that, when immersed in a liquid and intermingled with other molecules, charge fluctuation forces favor the association of identical molecules as nearest neighbors.
