Prediction of charge-induced molecular alignment of biomolecules dissolved in dilute liquid-crystalline phases.

ABSTRACT: Alignment of macromolecules in nearly neutral aqueous lyotropic liquid-crystalline media such as bicelles, commonly used in macromolecular NMR studies, can be predicted accurately by a steric obstruction model (Zweckstetter and Bax, 2000). A simple extension of this model is described that results in improved predictions for both the alignment orientation and magnitude of protein and DNA solutes in charged nematic media, such as the widely used medium of filamentous phage Pf1. The extended model approximates the electrostatic interaction between a solute and an ordered phage particle as that between the solute's surface charges and the electric field of the phage. The model is evaluated for four different proteins and a DNA oligomer. Results indicate that alignment in charged nematic media

SUBMITTER: Zweckstetter M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1304251 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature