The intrinsic dynamics and function of nickel-binding regulatory protein: insights from elastic network analysis.

ABSTRACT: Nickel-responsive protein NikR regulates the nickel uptake in nickel-dependent bacteria by interacting with the operator of nikABCDE and subsequently repressing the transcription of NikABCDE, an ABC-type nickel transporter system. The function of NikR and its affinity for the operator DNA is highly conformation-dependent, which has been confirmed by three independent crystallographic studies on NikR proteins from different bacteria. Depending on the intracellular nickel concentration, NikR is able to adopt either the open form or one of the two closed forms (cis and trans) that differ in the domain-domain arrangement. Only the closed cis form is optimal for DNA binding. We examined the low-resolution vibrational spectrum of NikR in each conformational form using the elastic network model a

SUBMITTER: Cui G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2367171 | biostudies-literature | 2008 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature