Equilibrium Thermodynamics of a Physiologically-Relevant Heme−Protein Complex†

Biochemistry ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 38 (51) ◽  
pp. 16876-16881 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuming Wang ◽  
Gary J. Pielak
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 9421-9425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiuyun Jiang ◽  
Jessica H. van Wonderen ◽  
Julea N. Butt ◽  
Marcus J. Edwards ◽  
Thomas A. Clarke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Jennings ◽  
Erica Belgio ◽  
Giuseppe Zucchelli

AbstractIt is often thought that the structural complexity of living organisms places Life outside the laws of Physics. According to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, inanimate matter tends towards ever-increasing randomness. Most thermodynamic studies on the living system are course-grained in the sense that it is the whole organism which is considered and they lack microscopic details. In these studies, as the living system is an open system, non-linear thermodynamics have been used. This requires that a number of assumptions be made concerning the living system itself, which may not be correct in organisms living under natural environmental conditions. In the present study, we depart from this approach and use a fine-grained analysis of the genesis of subcellular protein complex structures. The analysis is performed in terms of classical equilibrium thermodynamics using the acquired knowledge of protein/protein interactions. In this way, it is demonstrated that the spontaneous creation of ordered subcellular structures occurs in accordance with the Second Law of Thermodynamics. We specifically consider the simple example of protein dimer and trimer formation from its monomer components, both in vitro and with chaperone assistance in vivo. The entropy decrease associated with protein complex assembly, on which the continuing debate is founded, is shown to be a relatively small component in the overall and positive entropy increase. Graphic abstract


Author(s):  
Werner Kühlbrandt ◽  
Da Neng Wang ◽  
K.H. Downing

The light-harvesting chlorophyll-a/b protein complex (LHC-II) is the most abundant membrane protein in the chloroplasts of green plants where it functions as a molecular antenna of solar energy for photosynthesis. We have grown two-dimensional (2d) crystals of the purified, detergent-solubilized LHC-II . The crystals which measured 5 to 10 μm in diameter were stabilized for electron microscopy by washing with a 0.5% solution of tannin. Electron diffraction patterns of untilted 2d crystals cooled to 130 K showed sharp spots to 3.1 Å resolution. Spot-scan images of 2d crystals were recorded at 160 K with the Berkeley microscope . Images of untilted crystals were processed, using the unbending procedure by Henderson et al . A projection map of the complex at 3.7Å resolution was generated from electron diffraction amplitudes and high-resolution phases obtained by image processing .A difference Fourier analysis with the same image phases and electron diffraction amplitudes recorded of frozen, hydrated specimens showed no significant differences in the 3.7Å projection map. Our tannin treatment therefore does not affect the structural integrity of the complex.


Author(s):  
Dwight Anderson ◽  
Charlene Peterson ◽  
Gursaran Notani ◽  
Bernard Reilly

The protein product of cistron 3 of Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage Ø29 is essential for viral DNA synthesis and is covalently bound to the 5’-termini of the Ø29 DNA. When the DNA-protein complex is cleaved with a restriction endonuclease, the protein is bound to the two terminal fragments. The 28,000 dalton protein can be visualized by electron microscopy as a small dot and often is seen only when two ends are in apposition as in multimers or in glutaraldehyde-fixed aggregates. We sought to improve the visibility of these small proteins by use of antibody labeling.


1972 ◽  
Vol 71 (2_Suppla) ◽  
pp. S420-S438 ◽  
Author(s):  
David L. Williams ◽  
Jack Gorski

ABSTRACT A number of studies have been carried out to examine the distribution of the oestradiol-binding protein complex between cytosol and nuclear fractions as a function of total binding site saturation. The results of these studies suggest that each binding protein has one binding site for the hormone. In addition, these studies suggest that the interaction of the oestradiol-binding protein complex with the nucleus involves a large number of low affinity association sites.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keiei Kumon ◽  
Masahiro Higashi ◽  
Shinji Saito ◽  
Shigehiko Hayashi

Many enzyme molecules exhibit characteristic global and slow dynamics which furnish them with allostery realizing remarkable molecular functionalities more than simple chemical catalysis. However, molecular mechanism of a catalytic reaction associated with the molecular flexibility of enzymes is not well-understood. Here we report a hybrid molecular simulation study on GTPase activity of a Ras-GAP protein complex for cell signaling termination. We unveiled that extensive conformational changes of the protein complex and exclusion of internal water molecules are induced upon the transition state (TS) formation in the catalytic reaction and significantly lower the reaction activation free energy. We also revealed that tumor-related mutations perturb those conformational changes upon the TS formation, leading to reduction of the catalytic activity. The findings of the remarkably dynamic protein conformation directly linking to the catalytic reaction have broad implications for understanding of enzyme mechanism and for developments of allosteric drugs and novel catalysts.


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